


The Limit of Love

by Comet96



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Awkward Romance, Blood and Violence, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Magic, Marriage, Marriage of Convenience, POV First Person, Romance, Triggers, Violence, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 92,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24288076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comet96/pseuds/Comet96
Summary: Ethel always knew she was going to have an exciting life. Being born into an ancient and powerful family of witches was proof of that.When she arrives in Mystic Falls looking for her father she never thought she'd be dragged into Elena Gilbert's drama. Enter doppelgangers, a vampire love triangle, and an Original Vampire and his murderous brother, the Original Hybrid.She should have stayed in Ireland away from all this drama instead of being dragged into all of Elena's problems and used for her magic.
Relationships: Klaus Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 75
Kudos: 314





	1. Fatherly Love

**This is another story I've started.**

**It's not my fault, I dream about these things and I have to write them down.**

**This will be updated whenever I find a chance, so please be patient.**

**Thank you and sorry for any mistakes, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 22/06/20**

* * *

**FATHERLY LOVE**

* * *

The house was just as I expected. Not that I could really call it a house. It was more like a manor. One of the biggest houses I'd seen. And it was so him.

Shaking my head, I slammed the car door shut, knowing how he hated it. It brought a smile to my lips as I stepped up onto the porch and knocked lightly on the door.

I knew they'd be able to hear, no matter how softly I knocked. It was in their nature.

The door opened after a few seconds and I was met with a young man, only a year or so older than me. I knew who he was and knew he was more than a seventeen-year-old human and rather a vampire who was one-hundred-and-fifty-something-years-old.

"Hello?" he asked, looking down at me confused. I could understand why, he had never seen me before, not here in Mystic Falls or anywhere else.

"Hi, is Damon here?" His reaction was one I was expecting. If I was to go by anything with knowing Damon, it was that he was bound to cause trouble. I had to stifle a laugh as Stefan - I knew who he was - looked slightly put out.

"He's in, I can go get him for you," he looked back into the house as if expecting Damon to appear. "Would you like to—" he paused, and I knew what he was going to say.

"It's okay, Stefan, you don't need to invite me in, I'm not a vampire," I told him, stepping past him and entering the house anyway. "I take it Damon hasn't told you about me?" I asked, dropping my satchel against the wall as I looked into the parlour.

"How do you know Damon? I assume you know he's a vampire, but you're not from here." He leaned against the wall as he watched me wander around the parlour. "You're from England, right?"

"Ireland, but I've lost the accent," I told him, picking up a bottle of bourbon that I knew belonged to Damon. "I haven't lived in Ireland since I was five, we moved around all over, it kind of washed out the accent."

"I can hear it now," Stefan admitted, his head tilting to the stairs, no doubt hearing Damon.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, coming into the parlour and grabbing the bourbon from me.

"Hello to you too, D," I teased, taking a step back to take him in. There was something different about him.

"You're not supposed to be here," he pressed, taking a step towards me as if he was trying to be threatening. "Go home, Ethel,"

"You know you can't compel me, D, you gave me my necklace remember?" I lifted the hummingbird necklace that he had given me and laughed at the look of annoyance on his face. We both knew he wouldn't be able to compel me without it either, not with me being a witch, but Stefan didn't need to know that.

"Who is this, Damon?" Stefan asked, and I turned to face him.

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners," I chuckled, reaching out to shake his hand. "Effie Winters, sorry for the confusion, Stefan."

"Go home, Ethel," Damon said, ignoring Stefan as his brother looked at him curiously.

"I can't, mum sold the house so I got nowhere to go," I told him as if he should have been expecting it.

"What!" he snapped, the anger so clear on his face and in his voice. "Why would she do that?" He pulled his phone from his pocket dialing mum's number. "Rosalie, yes it's Damon, who else was it going to be?" I glanced at Stefan, obviously, he could hear what was being said on the other side of the line. "You just up and left her, selling the house?" This was getting awkward. I wish he put the phone on speaker. "She's sixteen-years-old, Rose!"

"Seventeen actually," I muttered, rolling my eyes at the look Damon gave me.

"You can't send her to me! What's she going to do for school? I'm really busy, Rose, I can't have her here." Thanks so much for the love. I looked to Stefan then, hearing him choke on air. What did mum say? "I know that I had her for the first five years when you were trying to control your hunger. I didn't think you'd want to kill your own daughter."

"Right, that's it," I snapped, pulling the phone from him. "Hey, mummy, look, I don't blame you for wanting to go off and do your own thing, but you told me that he knew I was coming. Look, you have fun in Paris or wherever it is you are, and I'll stay here with D."

"Are you sure, honey?" mum asked, her soft voice relaxing now that she wasn't talking to Damon.

"Absolutely. Have fun. Love you, mummy." I ended the call looking to Damon, a smug smile on my face. "Looks like I'm staying here."

"I really don't need this," Damon grumbled, running his hands over his face.

"Is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Stefan asked.

I looked at him, eyes wide before looking at Damon, giving him a grin. He had no choice anymore.

"Yeah, Dad, are you going to tell Uncle Stefan what's going on?" I teased, bouncing on my feet as the irritation crossed Damon's features.

"Dad? I thought that's what she said on the phone. Damon, this can't be possible, we can't have children," Stefan stressed, his eyes flickering between me and Damon. "You don't even look like him."

"It's called adoption, Stefan," Damon spat out, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

"Why would you adopt a human?" Stefan glanced at me again and a sympathetic smile crossed his face. "Sorry."

"She's not just some human, Stefan," Damon muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing at his face. "Her mother is... was a witch. They're from some powerful Irish coven. They don't practice the same type of magic as Bonnie. They don't rely on the spirits to help with their magic. Their magic is in them, it's in their blood. They thrive off of the atmosphere around them and they become one with nature."

"You make us sound like Hippies," I interrupted seeing the look of interest on Stefan's face. "My family's descended from the Original witches. It's believed that Esther was the Original Witch because she created the Original vampires, but it was actually a trio of sisters, Agnes, Ingrid, and Etheldred." Stefan nodded as he took in my explanation. "They made a blood sacrifice to save their town, using the spring harvest and sacrificing thirteen of the townsfolk. It was nature's way to curse them by making them witches, but they used it to their advantage and used their magic for good. Ingrid and Etheldred left the village for a couple of years to help others, becoming travelers."

"Gypsy Witches?" Stefan guessed, receiving a nod in return. "I've heard stories, but I never assumed they were real. I only thought there was one kind of witch."

"Through their travels, they found and helped many people and discovered that a drop of their blood consumed during a new moon passed on their magic. They returned five years later with a coven, people of their kind. A thousand years ago, vampires ransacked the village and destroyed the families living there. Most of the witches died, but there were a few that had moved by then, Etheldred had moved before then and she married and had three children, three daughters, all with magic."

"And her bloodline runs through your family."

"It does, but we don't go by witch anymore. Our family's magic has grown since then, our powers becoming stronger and in some ways, we're stronger than most witches. My family refers to ourselves as Mages," I told him, mentally shaking my head. I thought Damon agreed not to mention anything to Stefan and here we were telling him five minutes after I arrived. "We've kind of kept ourselves hidden, out of the eye of everything out there to prevent our bloodline from being killed off. Vampires don't really like something that's stronger than them. The stronger the family, the stronger our magic."

"Talking about family, why can't you go live with your Grandmother?" Damon asked, rising from the armchair he'd dropped into earlier.

I pulled a face at the mention of Grandmother Lily.

"Umm, well, about that. She won't have anything to do with me."

"Why not?" He seemed rather pissed off that he was going to have to put up with me. Once again, he wins Father of the Year.

"She had one of her moments," I said hinting at him what kind of moment I was talking about.

"What did she see?"

"She saw me with a man, a vampire I think. She made it clear what she saw me doing with him and she kind of cast me out of her life." It wasn't surprising that Grandma Lily had disowned me after seeing the future me copulating with a vampire considering she hated what Damon had done to her daughter, even if it did save her life. But seriously, couldn't she have waited until the future caught up with me?

"Who is he?" Damon demanded, causing Stefan to look at him in surprise. I guess he's never seen Damon acting like a dad before.

"Oh, come on, Dad, I didn't see him, I barely got his name out of her before she kicked me out. And she used magic!" I exclaimed, still feeling slightly hurt that my own grandmother cast me out using magic. It hurt like hell.

"What's his name?" Jesus Christ, you'd think the vampire had taken away all my innocence and turned me into the devil's right-hand man. I hadn't even met him yet.

"Does it really matter? I've not even—"

"His name!"

"Klaus."

From the awkward glance the brothers shared, I assumed that this wasn't someone they liked.

"This isn't good," Stefan said, looking at me, before looking back at Damon. "He's not in town yet. If we keep her away or send her away—"

"I am not letting that thing near her," Damon growled, and I knew this had something more to do with me.

"Would you be willing to tell me what's going on?" I interrupted, wanting to know everything about Klaus. I had heard rumours about a Klaus, but I was hoping it was a different Klaus from the murderous Original.

"No!" Damon snapped as he started pacing. Something definitely had his wand in a knot.

"Oh, come on, Dad. This is my life we're talking about."

"I said no."

"Look, I think I have a right to know what's happening," I argued, stepping in front of him, gaining his attention. "I'm not a baby anymore. You can't keep treating me like one."

"Go to your room," he said, giving me the same look he gave me when I was five and disobeyed him. Scrunching up my nose, I rested my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"I thought you wanted me gone. How can I have a room if you don't want me here?"

"You're acting like a child."

"You're the one acting like a child. One second you don't want me here and the next you're sending me to a room I don't even have. What the hell do you want, Damon?"

As a result of my question, I found myself in a nicely decorated bedroom, the door slamming shut, and the distinctive sound of a lock being turned.

"I'm keeping you safe," Damon said through the door, his words slightly muffled.

"Damon!" I called rushing to the door and trying to turn the knob. "Hey!" I slammed my hand on the door, cursing at him under my breath. "This isn't fair! Let me out!"

"It's for your own good," he said, making his steps heavy as he walked away. He did that on purpose, making sure I heard him walking away.

"You're an arsehole!" I shouted, knowing he'd hear me.

* * *

**What do you think?**

**Thank you for reading x**


	2. Damon Sucks

**I'm not going to give a set day for when this story is being updated, but it's currently on my 'every two weeks' list. To have a glimpse at when all my stories are due to be updated, head on over to my profile page.**

**Please enjoy this chapter. I know some people don't enjoy long author notes, but I just want to say sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I do check but I never seem to read my own work, word for word and therefore miss stuff.**

**Stay safe and enjoy xx Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 22/06/20**

* * *

**DAMON SUCKS**

* * *

It had taken me all night to figure out a spell to unlock the door. Why I had never needed to use one before was beyond me. I was fuming as I marched down to the kitchen. He hadn't even left me any food, and I hadn't had dinner on my drive here. I had to drink out of the bathroom tap like a weirdo.

I glared at Damon and his woman of the night as I saw him compelling her as I crossed into the kitchen.

"Yuck," I gagged, flicking on the coffee machine, knowing he heard me. If he was going to trap me in my room like I was a misbehaving child then he could receive the attitude of a pissed-off teenage-witch. Immature, I know, but I knew he hated it and I was willing to make his life a misery.

"So, John Gilbert gave me this to kill Elijah," Damon said a few seconds later, gaining my attention. I slipped into the hallway, looking at the other dark-haired man talking to Damon. "Said you have to dip the dagger into the remains of an old white ash tree dating back to the originals." He handed him over an old looking dagger. "If there's any truth in that."

"So, you think it's a setup?" the man said, looking over the dagger as he sat down.

"It could be. Guy's a weasel. I wouldn't put anything past him." I knew he didn't like this John Gilbert, it was definitely clear in the way he talked about him but the emotions he was sending out were making me dislike the man and I had yet to meet him. "What are you up to today, Mr Saltzman?"

"Well, Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house, but somehow, we've both got roped into doing this historical society tea thing at the Lockwood's," the man said, rising from his seat and making his way over to Damon.

"Where Elijah's the guest of honour." Damon was up to something. His face showed the whole 'I've got a plan' look.

"Tell me you're not gonna kill him at the tea party," Mr Saltzman sighed. I could gather from his tone that this was a common occurrence with Damon.

"No. That would be stupid." Damon's face was hardly convincing as he lied to his friend. "I want to know his endgame before I kill him. But I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met."

"You're being stupid," I called out, stepping into view and ignoring the frustrated look on Damon's face. It's not like he didn't know I was listening.

"Mind your own business," Damon hissed, flashing to stand in front of me, his fingers pressing into my shoulders.

"Hey, hey, Damon, let her go, man. Let her go," his friend insisted, stepping up to us and pushing Damon away from me. "Who's this and why is she here?" There was definite disapproval in his voice. I guess it didn't look good for Damon to have seventeen-year-old wandering his house, even if he was a vampire, especially because he was a vampire.

"Yes, please tell your friend what was going on," I said, crossing my arms against my chest as I leaned against the wall. I raised my eyebrow at him, waiting to see what he'd say to this man. It was clear he knew Damon was a vampire, but what else did he know.

"Alaric, this is my daughter, Ethel. Ethel, this is Alaric, he's a vampire hunter," Damon introduced. The immediate confusion crossed Alaric's face and I could see the amusement on Damon's. Wait, did he say vampire hunter? Why was he hanging around a vampire hunter?

"Daughter? How's that possible?" Alaric asked, looking between me and Damon as if the answer would pop out of thin air. Did no one think of adoption these days

"He's not my biological father," I explained, coming over to him and giving him a soft smile. "My mother was in a car crash when she was eight-months pregnant with me. She just found out that the man she was seeing, my father, was actually married and already had kids. He turned her away and she was angry. She ended up crashing and going into labour." I glanced at Damon, knowing how he hated his hero story of my birth. "Damon helped deliver me and gave his blood to my mum. She ended up dying anyway, so he took us back to his house until she woke up."

"I gave Rosalie a choice. I told her she could make the change and see her daughter grow up forever, or she could leave her alone in the world. She chose to complete the transition," Damon added, going over to his bourbon and pouring a glass.

"So, you ended up becoming a father?"

"The first five years were hard for Rose, I felt like I couldn't leave her alone with a child. Not after her mother sent her away for being a vampire."

"Her grandmother knows about vampires?" Alaric asked, the shock in his voice. I snorted at his response, sharing a bemused look with Damon.

"She's a witch, my whole family knows about vampires and werewolves, the whole nine yards," I said, dropping down onto the sofa as I watched the understanding cross his face.

"You're like the Bennet witches."

"No, we're more powerful. Their magic comes at a price. My powers have no limits like the Bennet's. I'm a descendant of the Original Witches, we have magic other witches dream about,"

"I'm lost."

"She's not controlled by pissed-off ghosts. The magic is inside her, like a core, it's in her blood," Damon explained, downing his drink as shrugging. "Now, about my plan."

* * *

It was boring.

I wasn't allowed to leave the house and Damon had used a dirty trick my grandmother had shown him when I was struggling with my magic.

He'd placed these charmed stones around the outside of the house which prevented me from using my magic and in turn stopped me from leaving my room. It was infuriating and I hated him for it. He told me he had them destroyed, but that was obviously a lie. When I got out of here, I would destroy them for good.

I'd been stuck inside for hours now and after finishing all the schoolwork I had to do while I was here, I was now left surfing the net to fulfil my boredom. Taking petty revenge on Damon, I was now spending his money on some new clothes and new furniture and decorations for my room. It was also a way to keep myself from being bored. And revenge, I'm not forgetting the revenge.

Hearing the door slam, I jumped up from my bed and rushed to the door. Pressing my ear to the wood, I could quietly hear Damon and Alaric talking but they quickly stopped and a shadow passed under my door before disappearing. They wanted to keep all this Elijah/Klaus stuff a secret from me.

"You suck," I said, hoping Damon would be able to hear me. Did he think he could keep me locked up in here the whole time I stayed here? Did he really think he could keep everything from me?

* * *

"I'm leaving!" I called, running down the stairs once I found out Damon had removed the stones and set me free from my prison.

"Where do you think you're going?" Damon asked, stopping in front of me, causing me to stumble back.

"I need to leave this place." I couldn't stand being cramped in this large house anymore. And trust me, it was possible to be cramped in a house this big.

"What? Why?" The frown on his face grew deeper but it was also mixed with panic and concern. Getting a hint of Damon's feelings with my magic, I pulled back and struggled to hold in a smile.

"I don't mean 'leaving' leaving." I did air quotes around the first leaving and rolled my eyes. "I meant I'm going into town to explore."

"I'll come with you," he started, only to stop when I glared at him and crossed my arms. "Or I'll stay here and act like a concerned father."

"I like that idea. I have my phone if you need me," I called to him, running out of the house and rushing to my car. I hesitated as I saw Stefan moving down the road towards his red car. "Hey, Stefan!" He turned at my call and gave a small frown in return. "Can you give me a lift?"

"I'm going to Elena's," he said as if that was reason enough to reject me and I felt mildly upset that he didn't want to spend time with me. Technically, I was his niece and I wanted to be able to have some sort of familiar relationship with him. He did mean a lot to Damon and I wanted to get to know him. As if he'd heard my thoughts, or saw my face drop, he sighed and nodded at his car. "Fine, get in."

I smiled brightly at him and climbed in, waiting for him to get settled and pull away from the house. The silence between us went on for minutes until I decided to bite the bullet and turned to face him.

"I don't want things to be weird between us," I started, biting my bottom lip at the look he gave me. "Okay, I understand that you may be angry that Damon didn't tell you, but he was doing it to protect me. He's just being a dad, Stefan."

"I don't understand why he didn't tell me," he grumbled, his hands flexing on the steering wheel.

"You two weren't really talking when I was born. You hated him and I doubt he wanted to have you there telling him he was making a mistake, or worse telling him he wasn't cut out to be a father," I told him, knowing Damon felt like that. He always felt he was the bad person in Stefan's books, even when he was doing the right thing.

"I could have been there—" He cut himself off and shook his head before pulling the car to a stop outside a two-story house. "I should have had the right to know about you. You're my niece and I would have liked being involved. It feels weird having you here now because it's like you were a secret."

"I was a secret, Stefan. We moved around a lot because of my parents. Two vampires that live off human blood trying to raise a baby when one of them couldn't even control their bloodlust wasn't the right way to be brought up. I didn't have many friends growing up and I was struggling with my powers. I haven't exactly fit in anywhere in my life, but as soon as I crossed into Mystic Falls, I felt like I belong."

"How old are you? You seem older than a teenager," he added, as I frowned at him. He knew how old I was, having gotten the information from Damon when he practically interrogated him.

"I turned seventeen on Valentines' Day," I muttered, turning my head away from him as I felt curiosity pouring off the girl approaching the car. "Is that Elena?"

"Yeah," Stefan replied, climbing out of the car and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. I stumbled out of the car, catching my foot on air as I smiled politely at the couple. "Elena, this is Ethel, she's umm … she's …"

"Perhaps it's best if we explain inside?" I suggested, following them to the door as Elena looked at her boyfriend in concern.

* * *

"This is surreal," Elena said, looking at me as if I was made up from her imagination.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," I replied, shrugging my shoulder slightly as I fiddled with the glass of water in my hand.

"Can you show me some magic?" she asked and I could tell why she did it. She didn't believe me. She didn't believe there were other witches out there.

Rolling my eyes, I flicked them down to the glass of water and let the water rise from the glass, twisting in the air before it formed the shape of a rose and hardened into ice. It hovered in the air for a few seconds before dropping to the floor and transforming back to water as it hit the ground.

"Sorry about that," I muttered looking at the puddle of water on the floor. "I'm still learning." It was true, but I had more control over my powers than that. I didn't want to show them my potential, I didn't know them and I wasn't sure I could trust them yet.

"Holy … Stefan, she's a witch!"

"I know," he said, looking bemused at the look on his girlfriend's face.

"She's Damon's daughter!"

"Adopted daughter," he corrected her, ignoring the glare I sent at him. Damon was my dad, no matter if it wasn't by blood.

"Do you think she could help with Klaus?"

"No." It shocked me to hear how stern Stefan got at the thought. One minute I felt like he didn't even care that I was there and then he was all protective. Like a true uncle.

"But she could—"

"No, Elena. Damon doesn't want her anywhere near Klaus, or to have any connection to him or to have him within any distance of her."

"Or biting distance," I added, finding the need to joke in this situation.

"Not funny," Stefan said, rising from the sofa and giving me a pointed look. "We're heading out to the cabin. Do you want me to drop you off into town before we go?

I shook my head as I rose to my feet, setting my glass on the coffee table. I waved my hand over the puddle hoping it would move only for it to freeze at the edge. I gave Elena an apologetic look and turned back to Stefan.

"If you point me in the direction of town, I can walk."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	3. Meeting Elijah

**I hope you are enjoying this story.**

**I'm really feeling it at the moment and have all these ideas I need to get out, so there may be more than one update every two weeks.**

**Please forgive me for any mistakes xx Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 22/06/2020**

* * *

**MEETING ELIJAH**

* * *

As I stepped out of the coffee shop, I rolled my eyes as Damon waved me over, obvious that he'd been following me since I left.

"Why are you following me?" I asked as I climbed into his car, settling my coffee in the cupholder.

"I was making sure you were still here," he said, starting the car up and moving out of the town centre. "I'll take you home and then I have to go to the Tea Party."

"What? No! I'm coming with you," I shouted, reaching over and grabbing hold of his arm to stop him from taking me home. "You'll get yourself killed and then mum will have to come back from her holiday."

"Is that what you're worried about? Me ruining her holiday?"

"I also don't want you dead, Damon," I grumbled hating how he thought I always chose mum over him.

"You don't call me dad anymore," he stated as if it was something big. I guess to him it was. And he probably thought I was choosing mum over him again.

"You kind of deserve it."

"What? Why?" He sounded offended like I had lied to him or something.

"You took off without saying goodbye. You just left me and didn't bother to call me for months. You didn't even want me here," I argued, knowing my reasoning was logical. It still hurt that he'd been ignoring me and didn't even call on my birthday.

"I was protecting you. I'm trying to keep you safe," he replied, his hands squeezing the steering wheel.

"I can protect myself!" As if to prove a point I froze him in place for a few seconds, not wanting things to turn dangerous as he was still driving.

"Okay, I get your point, but I'm your father and it's my job to protect you."

"And as your daughter, it's my job to stop you from going up against Elijah and getting yourself killed."

"I won't get killed," he argued as if both Alaric and myself were just lying about him dying at the hands of Elijah.

"Yeah, because I'll be there."

* * *

"Damon." I turned as a strawberry blonde woman came towards us, looking at Damon in surprise. "What are you doing here?" To say she looked surprised was an understatement. Actually, she looked disgusted. Now, this was a woman I think I'd get along with.

"Hi. You came." The same woman from this morning came up to Damon, a smile on her face. I think Damon said her name was Andie or Andrea, it wasn't that important. It's not like she'd be around for long.

"Hi," Damon said in return, kissing her instead of replying to the other woman. "Thanks for introducing us, Jenna." He gave her a smirk before walking off to who I assumed was Elijah.

"Umm, hello?" The Jenna lady said when she realised I was there.

"Oh, Jenna, this is Damon's little sister, Ethel," Andie, I was sure it was Andie, introduced, seeming to know the cover story we had for me being here.

"I didn't know that Damon and Stefan had a little sister," Jenna muttered and I could feel her confusion rolling off her. "They never said." Yeah, just think, Stefan went seventeen years without knowing.

"They don't talk about me," I told her, crossing my arms as I watched Damon introduce himself to Elijah. Even from here, I could feel the tense vibe. He was definitely going to get himself killed. "Our father sent me to boarding school in England when I was very young. I haven't seen my brothers in years."

"Are you visiting or are you making the move to Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked, being polite. I couldn't tell if she asked to be polite or if she cared, or if she just wanted to be in on all the juicy gossip.

"I'm still thinking about it, if you'll excuse me," I said, rushing off as Damon led Elijah to a separate room. I was stopped by someone grabbing my arm and turned to see Alaric. "I need to stop him."

"Just give him a minute," Alaric muttered, letting go of my arm as a man came towards us, also glancing at the room Damon went into.

"What's Damon doing with Elijah?" The man said, his eyes flicking to me quickly before looking back to Alaric.

"How would I know?" You tell him Alaric! Power to the Teachers/Vampire Hunters!

I hovered, wondering if I could make my escape while this man distracted Alaric, but sighed in annoyance as Alaric took my elbow in his hand. Damon must have spoken to him at some point and he must have known I was planning on leaving.

"Because you're his little helper."

"If you say so, John." So, his name was John and from the strong feelings I was getting from Alaric, I had a feeling this was John Gilbert.

"Does Jenna know about your extracurricular activities? Maybe it's time we tell her." Now, this John guy was just being a dick. "I mean, she can't stay in the dark forever." He did have a point about that. It seemed like if Jenna was hanging around Alaric and this John dude, then she was bound to find out about vampires and werewolves soon enough.

"You're a dick," Alaric said to John and I smiled smugly as John raised his eyebrows.

"I don't think you should sleep over anymore. It's inappropriate with children in the house." I felt it was about time for me to leave but Alaric's hand tightened on my elbow. "And that ring that Isobel gave you, that's mine. I'm gonna want that back."

Alaric just smirked at John, nodding his head as if he was agreeing with him, but I knew he was just doing it to please him. Or distract him from Damon and Elijah. That was it. He was trying to keep John from interrupting, which was also keeping me from interrupting.

John walked off, and I turned to Alaric, tugging out of his grip.

"Why would you do that? Keep me from Damon?" I asked, turning on my heel before he could interrupt and quickly opened the door, slipping inside.

I was surprised to see Damon pinned to the wall, Elijah's hand around his throat and removing Damon's arm as if he'd been doing the same to him. If I didn't know what was going on, it would have looked like they were making out.

"You young vampires, so arrogant," Elijah said, the hint of an English accent coming through. "How dare you come in here and challenge me."

"You can't kill me, man," Damon muttered and I could feel the smugness rolling off him. "It's not part of the deal."

"Silence." I was getting the feeling that Elijah was bored and felt as if all this was all beneath him. As I saw him reach for a pencil, I knew I had to stop him from hurting Damon, so before the tip could be jammed into Damon's neck, the yellow wood burst into flames and Elijah dropped it turning to face me.

"I can't let you do that," I said to him, stepping closer to the desk, shooting Damon a concerned look.

"Who are you?" Elijah asked, tilting his head in curiosity. He snapped Damon's wrist, letting him go and taking a step towards me. I held up my hand in warning, not caring that this vampire was hundreds of years old. I would still set him on fire.

"That's not your concern," I said, feeling more confident as Damon came to my side, his fingers brushing my shoulder as I stared down with Elijah.

"I'm an Original." It was as if it should have scared me. It did, but I wasn't going to show it. In retaliation for the pain, he'd caused Damon, I summoned all the pens and pencils from the desk and had them point at him. "Show a little respect." It was as if it was a warning. I felt like I was a little girl again being scolded by my father, yet Elijah was a hundred times scarier than Damon. Elijah's eyes flickered to Damon, his left eyebrow-raising. "The moment you cease to be of use to me, you're dead, so you should do what I say." He gave a taunting smile that promised more pain if Damon didn't follow his orders. "Keep Elena safe."

Elijah gave the makeshift stakes a look, his eyes slipping to me before he left the room. The pens fell to the floor with a clatter and I turned to face Damon, smacking him on the arm.

"You're an idiot!"

* * *

Damon and Alaric agreed to go back to the Boarding House after the Elijah incident and I begrudgingly drove back with Damon.

I was happy to find mum had messaged me saying she was free for a chat if I was up for it. I'd been on the phone with her for over an hour, happy that we could talk about rubbish for so long.

"How's your dad handling it?" Mum asked, referring to the fact that she dumped me on him in surprise. Not that I minded being dumped on dad's doorstep and it's not like she actually dumped me. She asked me where I wanted to go and I chose to be with dad.

"Better than I thought, though he did lock me in my room with those stones Grandma gave him."

"I hated them as a child," mum said in agreement, understanding my pain when it came to the binding stones. "You're not getting into trouble, are you?"

"No, but I did face off with an Original vampire today."

"You said you weren't getting into trouble!"

"I'm not. I just threatened him, alright. He was hurting dad," I grumbled, knowing it would make sense to her. She understood what it was like to protect Damon, she'd done it enough times as I grew up. It's what we did for each other, we stuck together as a family. They may not have had a romantic relationship, but they saw themselves as co-parents and tried to 'save' each other when they were being dicks.

"You be careful, alright. I know you're strong, but you can still be hurt."

"I'll be fine, mum, I promise." I glanced at the clock, realising how late it was and sighed rubbing my eyes. "I'm gonna head off to bed, I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. I'll call you soon," she promised, wishing me a last goodbye.

"Bye." I chucked my phone on my bed and rose, going to turn the light off. I was on my way back to bed when I heard a crash room downstairs. "Dad?" I called, slowly opening the door and shuffling down the hallway.

Someone was grunting in pain and I frowned in confusion because I had left Alaric and Damon as they had been discussing what happened earlier. Rushing down the stairs, I was startled to find Alaric with a knife in his stomach and Damon being attacked by someone.

"Hey!" I shouted, flinging my hand out and forcing the man to get off of Damon, but the damage had already been done as Damon fell to the floor holding his neck. "Stay there," I ordered when the man rose and the door on the other side of the hall opened and two other men came in.

"Grab that one, he's dead," the guy with the beanie said, pointing to Alaric.

Another man and woman came in through the door and the woman looked at Damon, a smile on her face.

"Hi, Damon," she said, raising the shotgun she had in her hand. "Nice to see you again." Her eyes drifted to me and she frowned slightly. "Who are you?"

"Careful," the beanie guy warned as she took a step towards me. "She's a witch."

"I can deal with that," the lady said, moving her gun and pointing at my leg. She fired, and I cried out in pain, dropping to the floor beside Damon as the woman came over, rolling me onto my back. "I can play while we wait for him to wake up." She turned to the men behind her, nodding down to me. "Tie her up and make sure she can't move her hands."

* * *

I could feel how annoyed Jules was growing with me because I didn't know what she was talking about. She thought I was pretending but I had finally convinced her that I'd only arrived in Mystic Falls yesterday and had no idea what she was talking about.

It was actually Stevie that confirmed it, showing her something on his phone that had her believing I was telling the truth. I wish he'd shown her an hour ago so I could have gone without being tortured by her.

She felt it was only right that I get a hit every time she thought I was lying. That also seemed to be every time something came out of my mouth. Finally content with some form of information, she suggested they use me as bait to get information out of Damon. I think it was the only reason I was still alive.

Damon woke with a groan, his eyes taking in Alaric's dead form as he slowly looked up and locked eyes with me. I could see the anger growing as they took in the bruises on my face.

_I'm okay_ , I told him through our mind link, happy he got my message as he gave a small nod. I could also tell that he didn't believe me.

"Morning, sunshine," Stevie said, giving him a smile as he held into the chains of the torture device they'd wrapped around Damon's neck. "I saw this movie once, some torture porn flick, anyway they had this collar device that was really cool, so I just modified it some with some wooden nails and when I pull." He pulled, showing Damon the example of what would happen.

Damon grunted in pain as I tried to pull out of my bindings as tears ran down my face. I hated seeing him in pain and I felt I had to be to blame because I couldn't save him from this situation. Well, I could, but I knew he wouldn't want me to use my magic on him, not when I was in danger too.

"So, I hear you have the moonstone," Jules said, entering the room with her other goons.

Damon laughed in response and I was afraid that he'd been driven insane by his torture. It didn't seem like and the appropriate time to be laughing, not when you were tied up and being tortured.

"Oh, if you only knew the irony of this moment right now," Damon said, his chuckling disappearing as he tilted his head and looked at Jules. "Let me tell you how this is gonna go. You're gonna torture me, I don't talk, someone loses a heart. Last time it was your boy Mason." At the reminder of their friend's death, Stevie wrapped his hand around the chains in a warning.

"This time, it will be you," Jules said, her head turning to face me before looking at Damon with a smirk. "Or her." She went over to Damon, a knife in her hand and twirled it in front of him. "This is gonna hurt."

Damon's agonised groan made me feel useless in my seat and I knew I had to do something. I wasn't good at mind-links unless I had a previous mind-bond, but giving the intense emotions and the fact that my magic thrived off intense emotions, I closed my eyes and tried to search out for Stefan's mind. If I could warn him, then perhaps he'd come to help Damon.

I almost groaned in annoyance when I couldn't feel him but stopped when I felt the edges of Elijah's mind. It felt ancient and it hummed with knowledge and I had to wonder if I would even be able to speak to him? As another painful moan from Damon erupted my mind, I shook it off and divided into Elijah's mind, hoping he'd get my cry for help.

A sharp pain from the back of my head had my eyes snapping open as Jules started down at me, frowning.

"Don't close your eyes, sweetheart." She walked behind me, running her fingers up my arm as she taunted Damon. "I can cut her face off? Where's the moonstone, Damon?"

I shook my head at him, telling him not to bother telling her. I wasn't as weak as she thought. Proving my point, I flicked my eyes to one of the men in the room, watching with a smirk as he fell to the floor holding his throat. I felt this was the perfect time to show I could still use my magic, if Elijah was on his way, we'd be fine.

"She'll kill him," Damon told Jules as the wolf went to the man in concern. "Leave her alone and she won't hurt you." Jules flicked her eyes at me and nodded in agreement. I begrudgingly let the man go, watching as his face went from blue to white as he got his breath back.

Taking the hint that I still had my powers even though she tied my hands, Jules stood in front of me, giving all her attention to Damon. She nodded her head at the shotgun and one of her goons gave it to her, frowning at me in caution as he came to my side, resting his hand on my shoulder.

"You know what the best thing about buckshot is?" Jules tilted her head to the side, and it almost felt like she was flirting with him. "It scatters through the body. Maximum damage." She raised the shotgun at him. "Where's the moonstone."

"Get over it, honey. You're never gonna get it."

"Are you looking for this?" I sighed in relief at the sound of Elijah's voice. Only hours ago I was threatening him and now here he was saving our lives.

The five wolves turned to face the Original, all of them tense as he came down the steps towards them. The wolf holding onto me, let go and joined his pack, his tail between his legs in fear.

I heard Elijah set the stone on the table and turned to face him, curious about what he had planned. He gestured to the stone as if daring them to take it.

"Go ahead, take it."

A second went by and one of the wolves rushed towards it only to be stopped by Elijah. The wolf was dropped to the leather couch, his heart in Elijah's hand. Two of the other wolves went to speed out of the house only to find themselves without their hearts, bodies crumpling to the floor.

Damon looked at me, a smirk on his face and I knew he was bragging that this Original was on our side. For the moment anyway. I didn't even know why he was here, not after the way I treated him earlier. I didn't think he'd come.

Jules zoomed off and Stevie dropped to the floor, covering his head with his jacket as if it would protect him from Elijah. If I wasn't tired and in pain, I would have laughed

"What about you, sweetheart, hmm? You wanna take a shot?" Stevie shot to his feet, shaking his head in disagreement, trying to avoid looking at Elijah. "No? Yes? No? Where's the girl?" Elijah asked, realising that Jules was missing.

"I don't know," Damon said as if he hadn't watched her run off.

"It doesn't really matter." He punched Stevie, causing his neck to break and the wolf dropped to the floor, dead. Elijah went to Damon and pulled the chains from the chair, freeing him from his torture device. "So you realise this is the third time I've saved your life now." They had a stare off before Elijah came to my side and freed me from my bindings.

He held out his hand and helped me from the chair. I released his hand and took a step away from my torture scene and glancing at Damon as he stayed seated in his. Elijah walked over to the moonstone, picked it up and left the room. With another quick glance to Damon, I followed after the Original.

"Elijah!" I called, stopping him from leaving the house. He turned his head slightly before turning his body to face me. "Thank you for coming. I wasn't sure if you'd receive my message."

Elijah tilted his head to the side, his eyes roaming over my bruised face as he contemplated something.

"You're not like the other witches I have met," he said, taking a step towards me. "Would you like me to heal you?" It was a kind offer, but I never took vampire blood as a promise to my mother. Anyway, with a soak in some herbs and a quick spell, I'd be healed by morning.

"I'm alright, thank you though," I paused and nodded my head to the room Damon was in, "for saving Damon. I threatened you earlier and I know you didn't need to come here, so I thank you for that."

"It was a pleasure, Ethel. I will be seeing you soon." He left and his words lingered. He knew my name now and I wondered who he'd been speaking to. His last words felt more like a promise and I wondered if he was curious about my powers like everyone else always was.

"Effie?" Damon's voice broke my stare at the closed door and I turned to see his concerned eyes. "Go have your bath, I'll clean up." I nodded, slowly taking a step towards the stairs, wincing in pain as the gunshot wound on my leg twinged. How had I forgotten about that? Damon was at my side in seconds, scooping me up and rushing me to my room. He settled me on the bed and rushed to the bathroom, turning the bath on. "Are you okay? Do you need blood?"

"I'm fine," I said, waving him off just as I did with Elijah. "I'll be healed by morning."

"I'm glad you're somewhat okay," Damon said, pressing a kiss to my forehead before going downstairs to clean up the mess Elijah left behind.

"I'm glad you're somewhat okay, too."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	4. Death Party

**This is becoming one of my favourite stories at the moment.**

**I keep dreaming up different scenes - ones that involve Klaus and I'm really inspired to get to those scenes in the story.**

**Please ignore any mistakes, I'm terrible at correcting myself, though I have checked this twice.**

**Please enjoy xx Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 22/06/20**

* * *

**DEATH PARTY**

* * *

As the sun filtered through into my room waking me, I tucked my head under the pillow, trying to get back to sleep. I had a tough night and after healing, I was drained, yet I couldn't drift off to sleep. Well, not until three-ish in the morning and all I wanted to do now was sleep all day. It seemed Damon had different ideas as he came into my room and threw himself onto my bed, running his fingers through my hair.

"We're gonna head to the Grill for lunch, Alaric wants to see that you're okay," he said, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.

"I don't wanna go," I grumbled, swatting his hand away and shuffling up against the headboard. "They're trying to break the Sun and Moon Curse, aren't they?" I asked, finally understanding why there was an Original in Mystic Falls. It also explained why werewolves were after the moonstone. "Elena's the doppelganger, right? She looks just like Katherine." I had seen a picture of Katerina and knew from the moment I saw Elena that she was her duplicate/

"We're trying to protect Elena, to save her from the ritual."

"I can't help you, Damon. You know if she's meant to die, she will. I won't be able to change that. You know I can't change it, not with that sort of magic." I didn't like the look on his face, the one where it felt like I let him down. "I can cast a protection spell on her but if it's fated for her to die, she will. I'm not strong enough to go against magic like that, not on my own."

"Come on," he said, pulling me from the bed and over to my dresser. "Alaric doesn't believe me when I say you're okay."

"Fine."

If he wanted to ignore it, then that's up to him, but I had a feeling he didn't want me getting involved because he knew I couldn't help him.

* * *

Mystic Grills was just as I imagined it to be. The classical restaurant and bar with pool tables and the stereotypical setting for teens to hang out as well as families. It kinda reminded me of a sports bar sort of mixed with a chain-restaurant from the United Kingdom.

I scrunched my nose up as Damon dropped into a booth where Andie was waiting and rolled my eyes in disgust as they kissed. I had officially lost my appetite.

"How are you feeling?" Alaric asked, drawing my attention to him and I realized he was sitting with Andie. I dropped into the seat beside him, rolling my eyes at the gruesome actions in front of me.

"Better, thanks. I used some ointments and healing herbs in my bath last night. I only have a scar from the gunshot wound, but it's some of the best healing I've done," I told him, glancing around the dining space and frowing when a blonde girl caught my eye. "Who's that."

"Caroline Forbes, she's a friend of Elena's and a vampire," Alaric said, shifting in his seat to look at her. He nudged my shoulder, pushing me towards the exit of the booth. "Come on, I'll introduce you." I followed Alaric over to the blonde, who was watching us move over to her. "Caroline," Alaric greeted, gesturing to me as we stopped in front of her table. "This is Ethel Winters, she's Damon's adoptive daughter." Just get right on out there and say it Alaric, though if she was a friend of Elena, she must have known about me.

"Umm, hi?" she muttered unsure of what she was supposed to say.

"I don't mean to impose," I replied, shifting my eyes back up to Damon who was still sucking face with Andie. I turned back to face Caroline and she grimaced as she also looked away from them.

"No, it's fine. Will you join me for lunch?" I felt like she was half inviting me because Damon was sucking face with his girlfriend and because she wanted to learn more about me.

"If you don't mind." I glanced up to Alaric, smiling in thanks as I took the seat opposite Caroline, picking up a menu and looking over the food. As Alaric walked away, I dropped the menu, giving Caroline a soft smile. "Thank you." At her confusion, I spread my hands in front of me. "You have every right not to talk to me. I know what Damon's done to you and everyone in this town. It's sort of the person he is, so thank you for offering me an olive branch when you don't know me."

"You can't be that bad if Alaric's introducing you to me," she said, shrugging as she played with her straw,

"Alaric trusts me because I'm a witch. He knows I have his back and would protect anyone in danger," I told her, also shrugging as if it was nothing. "Before you ask, I'm not like other witches. You being a vampire doesn't bother me. My dad's a vampire and my mum was turned after I was born. I've grown up with your kind."

"I thought witches were against vampires," Caroline muttered, the softness of her voice making me reach out and touch her hand lightly.

"Well, I wouldn't invite you to meet my Grandmother, she threw me out because she had a vision of me kissing a vampire. I don't know what she'd do if I told her I was friends with one." I winked at her, hoping she also felt the weird bond that felt like it was connecting us. The soft smile she sent me in return gave me hopes that she did.

* * *

"Wait, wait, you got Damon to wear a pink tutu and angel wings?" Caroline asked, laughing as she glanced over to the man in question. I looked over my shoulder to see him glaring at me. He mustn't be happy that I was sharing all his secrets.

"I was three and wanted him to be in my ballet play," I told her, grabbing my phone and scrolling through until I found the picture I had scanned. I slid my phone over to her, showing her the blackmailing photo I had of him.

Caroline burst into tears with her laughter, rubbing at her eyes as she pushed the phone back to me, shaking her head. I frowned as her laughter stopped and her brow dipped in the middle. Turning to follow her gaze, my eyes landed on Elija, who upon catching my eye dipped his head in greeting and curled his finger at me.

"If you'll excuse me," I muttered, rising from the table only to be stopped by Caroline's hand on my wrist.

"Do you know who that is?" She hissed in concern. I gave her a soft smile and nodded my head.

"I'll be fine, Care, trust me." I gave her hand a small pat and walked up to Elijah, wondering what he could want.

"Ethel," he greeted, drawing Damon's attention as I arrived at the table. "Your brother has invited me to dinner tonight, it would please me if you were to attend too." In other words, he wanted me there to ensure he wasn't being lured to his death.

Damon went to argue but was silenced by Alaric who nodded over to Jenna, who was looking baffled. Did she not know what was going on?

"If it would please you," I muttered, giving Damon a pointed look as he went to say something again. We couldn't risk making a scene.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you." With a dip of his head, Elijah walked off and Jenna followed him with a curious look on her face.

"He knows," Alaric said, obviously knowing what Damon had planned.

"He doesn't," Damon argued, rolling his eyes as I dropped into the spare seat opposite him.

"He invited your daughter to his death party, Damon. He definitely knows."

"Well, you know what to do then," I said, causing both men to look at me. "Don't kill him."

"I wasn't going to kill him!" I shared a look with Alaric, one that clearly said that we didn't believe Damon.

"Right, you go back to your plotting, I'm going to have lunch with my new friend," I said, rising from the table and going back down to Caroline. "Is it always crazy around here?"

"If you mean psychotic doppelganger vampires and rituals that include werewolves, vampires and Originals, then yes."

"Home sweet home," I mumbled, raising my coke and dipping it in Caroline's direction.

* * *

Damon's idea of a dinner party was to order in food, but I was disgusted at the thought and instead decided to cook for the guests tonight.

"Italian?" Damon asked, his nose scrunching up as he sniffed around the kitchen. "Really, Ethel?"

"I like Italian," I grumbled, dipping my finger into the leftover sauce for the lasagna.

"It's also historical," Alaric added, shrugging as I leaned against the island. "Seems appropriate to show your ancestry to Elijah considering he's pretending to be 'interested' in the area."

"He's looking for the site where the witches were burned," I told them, sliding the lasagna into the oven. I was going to do a tiramisu for dessert but decided to do a classical apple pie with custard.

"How do you know that?" Damon asked, his eyes flicking to Alaric with a quick warning.

"I'm a witch, Dad, I can read minds if I want to."

"What did you read in his mind?" He was curious to see what I knew about the Original vampire. Surely he knew I'd tell him if Elijah knew about the witch site.

"If you kill him tonight, he'll kill everyone here."

"I told you he knew!" Alaric stated, throwing his hands in the air.

" _Don't be stupid, Damon_ ," I hissed at him in Italian as he shrugged his shoulders. " _He will kill everyone!_ "

"Stop it," Damon warned as if I was the one causing all the trouble.

"I wish Caroline agreed to come tonight," I muttered, turning my back to him as the doorbell rang.

I was guessing it was Jenna as I caught her bubbly personality touching the edge of my mind. It seemed strange, but I was already connecting with Caroline and Jenna as if they were family. There seemed to be a strong bond growing between us and I was hoping they wouldn't mind such a bond being created.

As a mage, mental bonds were one of the strongest types of magic we unconsciously made. They showed the relationships we made and the connections to the people in our lives. For example, the bond between Damon and I was that of father and daughter. It was a parental bond, one I also shared with my mother. One of the strongest bonds to be connected. They were also my strongest bonds due to being made at my birth. Even though Damon wasn't my biological father, it seemed my mind knew he would be my father and bonded with him as soon as he held me.

I was getting similar bonds with Caroline and Jenna. It was a family bond that wanted to be created so I knew that we were going to get along.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Ethel." I jumped at Elijah's voice, not realising he had arrived. "I have warned Damon what will happen if he means to betray me. I trust you will not go against my trust."

"I have no intention of betraying you, Elijah. I've warned Damon not to, but he often ignores my advice," I said, setting the plates out on the island ready to dish up.

"I have warned him that I won't hesitate to kill everyone in this house, though I would keep you alive. Witches are hard to come by and I believe you are different from the others." He tilted his head as he watched me in concentration. "Would you tell me your story?"

"I believe there is a time and place for such stories, Elijah, and you threatening to kill my family and friends isn't going to lead to any story." I pulled the lasagna from the oven, smiling as Damon and the others came into the kitchen to grab the plates.

I was surprised to see John Gilbert and smirked when he stopped at the sight of me, glancing over to Damon.

"I heard you had a sister, though I never believed it." John reached his hand out to me and I took it, quickly shaking his hand. "John Gilbert, a pleasure to meet you."

"Ethel Salvatore, the best Salvatore you're gonna meet." Damon scoffed, grabbing his plate and shook his head.

"She's probably telling the truth." He rested his hand on Andie's back and gestured to the others to follow. "Shall we gather in the dining room?"

* * *

Dinner was boring and I felt so out of place amongst everyone else. They all spoke about was the boring history of Mystic Falls and the jabs Damon was sending Elijah were starting to grate on my nerves.

I was also surprised that Jenna didn't know anything about vampires or werewolves considering they spoke so openly about things. They did it in such a way it was easy to ignore, but the signs were there. And I was finding it hard to believe that Jenna was the sort of woman who would ignore these signs.

Had she been compelled to forget any mention of the supernatural or was she that oblivious to it?

From the looks of anger she was sending Alaric, I wasn't so sure.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on the pie," I said, taking my plate and leaving the table.

I couldn't handle the stifling emotions rolling around. It was one part about my powers that I couldn't stand, and while I was generally good at blocking others emotions, Damon, Elijah, and John were practically screaming at each other.

Casting a heat protecting spell, I pulled the pie from the oven, closing the door with my foot and turned, gasping as Jenna scared me and the pie fell from my hands.

"Oh my god," she whispered, looking at the floating pie as it hovered in front of my open hands.

"Jenna," I muttered, scooping the pie from the air and resting it on the side.

"Your hands! Are they burnt?" she rushed to me, taking my bare hands in hers trying to look for red burn marks. "Was that pie floating? What happened? How was that … floating?"

"Umm." I pulled from her grasp and took a step back, unsure what I was meant to say.

"How did you do that?" I wasn't sure if she was asking about the floating pie or me holding the dish without burning myself. Or perhaps she was talking about both?

"Don't freak out," I said, reaching over and grabbing her hand. "Promise you won't freak out and I'll tell you." She nodded her head, but I could tell from the clenched jaw and slightly narrowed eyes that she was ready to yell at me. God, I felt like I was about to be scolded by my mum. "It might not sound like it's the truth, but I'm a witch." I could see her going to argue but tightened my hold on her hand, begging her to listen. "Look, I can prove it."

Holding my left hand out, I tilted my hand so my palm was facing up and watched her face as a ball of fire flicked in my hand. I let the fire tickle at my skin and flicker out towards her before I replaced the fire with a ball of water. The water swirled in the air above my hand, twisting and turning in a way that made it look like there were tiny waves inside. I blew on the water watching as the water flew out towards Jenna, turning into hundreds of dandelion clocks that float between us and moved towards her before shifting and disappearing into silver dust.

"What the hell!"

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	5. Making a Mess of Things

**So, Jenna knows.**

**It's also getting closer to the full moon, so Klaus will be here soon and Ethel will meet him for the first time. I'm excited. Especially since I've already got three scenes between them planned out for way into the future.**

**Exciting.**

**Please ignore any mistakes, I always make them.**

**Please enjoy xx Love Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 22/06/20**

* * *

**MAKING A MESS OF THINGS**

* * *

It was awkward. I was making it awkward. Or perhaps it was Jenna. It didn't really matter who was making it awkward, the point was, it was awkward.

I should have been listening out for her and now I'd just revealed that magic was real and opened the door to other possibilities. I should have just erased her memories. No, I didn't agree with that. I didn't like the thought of taking someones memories without their permission.

"Does Damon know?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence that settled around us. I nodded slowly as I bit my lip. "And Alaric?" I hesitated at that and unwillingly gave her my answer. At the hurt look on her face, I reached out and took her hand in mine.

"I promise I'll tell you more later on, but can you keep this quiet until you leave?" She looked like she wasn't going to give in, so I pouted and tried to mimic a puppy. "Please."

"Urgg, I bet you get spoiled by your brothers with those big green eyes," she grumbled, pulling her hand away from me and crossing her arms. "You have a lot of explaining to do.

"Agreed, but after the dinner party," I said to her, wondering why she had come out here. As if hearing my thoughts, Alaric came into the kitchen with a sheepish look on his face.

"So, Elijah had to leave, something important, do you need a ride home?" he asked, looking at Jenna. Was it me or was he avoiding catching my eyes?

"What do you mean Elijah left?" I wondered, hoping they hadn't daggered him.

"Something came up, he left in a hurry." He was definitely avoiding my eyes so I knew they'd daggered him. Great, just what we needed. An Original ready to make do on his promise to Damon.

"Umm, I think I left my purse round yours earlier, Jenna. Do you think you could drop me off?" I asked, giving her some wide eyes in a hint that she should agree.

"Of course," she said, frowning slightly as she glanced at Alaric. I hope I haven't made things worse between them. "Come on then."

* * *

As Jenna ushered me into the house - it was more like she shoved me in the house as I caught sight of a black cat wandering around outside - I couldn't help but feel warm as the bond between us was growing.

"That sounded creepy," I muttered under my breath, turning around and frowning as Jenna stood, leaning on one hip, her arms crossed over her chest. "You know, Jenna, you kinda feel like a big sister and I feel like I'm about to be grounded for months."

"Oh, I wish I could ground you." She pointed at the sofa and raised her eyebrows. "Sit, now."

Like a well-trained dog, I obediently followed her order and sat on the sofa, watching as she sat opposite me, nodding her head for an explanation.

"Okay, as you saw earlier, by mistake might I add, I am a witch." I was surprised that she was taking it calmly this time, though I guess her reaction earlier was reasonable.

"How?" She was baffled by the thought of witches and from the glimpse in her mind, I knew she was thinking about witches with green skin and warts on their noses.

"I was born a witch, or if you're wanting to get technical about it, a mage."

"I want to get technical. I want to know everything," Jenna said, leaning her elbows on her knees as she locked eyes with me. I nodded and bit my lip. I owed her the truth, the complete truth.

"Okay. My mother's family are descendants of the oldest and most powerful witches to exist. Over the years the magic in our blood has strengthened and weakened, within the last fifty years, since my grandmother and her sisters have been practising their craft, the magic has spiked. My grandmother believed that my mother was going to be the strongest in the line for a long time, but she was turned into a vampire before she could unlock her full powers. Luckily, I was born before, so her magic was able passed on to—"

"Wait, did you say your mother was turned into a vampire?"

Oh, yes. Totally forget she didn't know about vampires or werewolves.

"Umm, yeah, Damon was there when she crashed the car and helped deliver me. His blood was in her system and while vampire blood usually heals, if in the system when a human dies, they can go into transition to becoming a vampire." I never knew how hard this was, explaining our secrets to people. I wasn't going about it the right way and I was just making her move confused. "Look, I'm not good at explaining things. I'll go over the basics and then you can ask any questions you want and I'll go into detail, okay?"

"Right, okay…" Jenna hesitated as if she didn't really want to know but wanted to at the same time. "Did you say that Damon was a ..." she trailed off at the look I gave her and shut up, ready to listen to my explanation.

"Basics then. Witches are real and they tend to live in covens as it makes them stronger in a sense. We all practice different magic styles, some practice spirit magic, some traditional magic, or they practice ancestral magic. I'm not like those witches. Over the centuries, my family started to call us mages. My bloodline is kinda complex and I'm not the best person to explain it to you. Umm, my magic is inside of me, like in my soul. We can enhance our magic through the elements, I showed you some of that earlier, but any sort of magic class can help enhance my magic." Jenna gave me a little nod, gesturing me to go on. "We also rely on our blood to help us with our magic. I can explain all that later, but it helps us cast stronger spells."

"So, you're sorta the strongest witch alive?" I snorted and shook my head. If my grandmother heard that she'd drop dead on the spot. Taking Jenna to see her was sounding like a good idea.

"Not really. I've got a lot of learning to do. I still struggling with my powers sometimes, usually when I'm stressed or under pressure." I didn't feel bad about lying to her, but I didn't want to reveal all about my magic to her. "You should have seen me trying to show Elena my magic when I met her." And I knew I said something wrong when Jenna narrowed her eyes at me.

"Elena knows?"

"Umm, well, you see she's sort of a doppelganger …"

"What the hell is a doppelganger?"

"Right, let me finish my basic explanation." I rubbed the temples of my head and closed my eyes. How could this be so hard? Rolling my eyes as I looked at Jenna, I summoned a notebook and pen, setting it on the table between us. "Right, witches are real." I wrote witches on the paper and circled it. "Vampires and werewolves are real." I jotted them down to and circled them. "These three are the most 'common' supernatural creatures you'll come across. And then we have a whole subclass of supernatural that aren't as 'common', such as a doppelganger, which is what Elena is."

"And that is?"

"Don't worry, Jenna, she doesn't have any powers or abilities. She's an exact look-alike of an ancestor in her family. If you have them together it would be like looking at identical twins." I think it would be wise not to mention Katherine to her at this point.

"Do I know any vampires?"

And here is where it became so much harder. I had promised I was going to tell her the truth and I meant it, but if we went any further than she could never go back.

"Damon and Stefan are vampires and have been since 1864. Damon turned my mother into a vampire, though you haven't met her." Seeing the look on her face, I leaned over the table and took her hand. "She was dying and he gave her his blood to save her, though the internal injuries were worse than he thought and she died. He gave her a choice, whether to die or live and become a vampire. She chose to become a vampire so she could be my mother."

"But she lost her witch powers," Jenna filled in, seeing where this was going.

"Yeah, but she wasn't attached to them and to be honest, I think she prefers being a vampire."

"I-I … I just realised that you said Stefan and Damon are vampires." She was gobsmacked as if this realisation should have been obvious.

"And they're also not my brothers," I added, wanting to get all the shocking things out of the way. "Damon's technically my dad, my adoptive dad, which makes Stefan my uncle of sorts."

"I … I don't know how to deal with this."

"Shit, I've messed this up, haven't I?" I stood from the sofa and started to pace in front of the table, running my hands through my hair. "Do you want me to take your memories away? I can make it so you never knew about any of this."

Jenna stared at me for a moment, her blue eyes locking with my green as she contemplated it. She could see the positives of forgetting everything she knows about the supernatural, but she saw that the positives of knowing outweighed her thoughts of forgetting.

"No, I don't want that. I need to know and I thank you for telling me, for showing me," she said, standing up and taking hold of my arms. "There is one more thing I want to know."

"Okay."

"I take it Alaric knows about everything?"

"There's no point in lying. He does know, he's a kind of a hunter. He normally would kill vampires, but the situation here is different. He came here to come after Damon, considering he turned Isobel into one and that's why she vanished."

"That's why he can't tell me about her. She's a vampire and he didn't want me to know about any of that."

It seemed I was only going to be digging Jenna into a deeper hole with all this supernatural stuff. She wanted honesty and I was sure as hell just dumping it all on her lap.

"I guess everyone's been lying to you to keep you safe." That probably wasn't the best thing to say considering the look she gave me. "I know it's not going to make you feel better but Damon tried to keep this all hidden from me before I turned up here." The whole drama of Mystic Falls, not the supernatural.

"It doesn't make me feel better, but thank you."

"Are you sure you don't want me to wipe your memories?" I wanted her to be sure that this is what she wanted.

"No, I want this. I needed to know." She paused, taking a deep breath as she moved her hands down and squeezed mine in hers. "I'm gonna sit on this for a while until I'm sure how to talk to Elena about it all. Do you mind keeping it to yourself?"

"Yeah, since I totally ruined your life." I took a step back and glanced over her and unclasped the hummingbird necklace from around my neck and held it out to her. "This is really important to me. My dad gave it to me when I was thirteen. It was one of the only things my grandmother willingly did for him, but it holds some of the most powerful charms on it. Protection from compulsion, protection from supernatural, it's like a ward to vampires and other supernatural. You can't be hurt with it on and I want to keep you safe."

Jenna shook her head, trying to hand me the necklace back, but I took a step back, holding up my hand.

"I can't take this."

"You can and you will. I don't need it, not anymore. I can protect myself without it now and you need it more than me. I don't want you hurt, Jenna."

With reluctance, she nodded and pulled the necklace around her neck, letting the hummingbird settle on her chest just above her breasts. Her fingers played with it as she took in a deep breath.

"Are you going to be alright if I leave you?" I asked, looking down at the notebook and picking it up. I closed my eyes and let my mind think about everything I knew about the supernatural that I thought Jenna would want to know. "I've left some notes in here for you to go over. Only you can read it, it will look empty to anyone else so don't worry about leaving it lying around or something."

Jenna took the notebook and held it to her chest and gave a little nod. She was feeling a little lost now and I knew she was worried about where to go from here.

"It's all going to be alright, Jenna. You can call me if you ever need to talk, I promise."

"Thank you, Ethel."

* * *

When I returned home that night, Damon wasn't there and I wasn't surprised to find that Elijah was no longer in the house either, I, however, was surprised by the sight of Elena creeping around upstairs in my room.

Wasn't she with Stefan? I thought she was with Stefana t the Lake House?

"Elena?" I called out and was startled at the speed the girl turned at. "Katerina," I corrected, frowning as the vampire sped in front of me, bouncing back as I threw up a shield to protect myself. "What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?" she asked, her fangs flashing out as she stumbled towards me. "What are you doing here?"

"Unlike you, I actually live here." I paused as I took her in. Wasn't she supposed to be in the tomb? "How did you get out of the tomb?"

"You know about the tomb?"

"You know what? I don't care. I'm gonna let Damon deal with you." With a wave of my hand for a dramatic flair, Katherine was flown out of my room and I cast a charm around it to prevent her from entering again.

"How do you know Damon?" Instead of answering, I waved my hand and smiled in satisfaction as the door slammed in her face.

It was petty and childish, but this woman had tormented Damon for years. And personally, I didn't want the bitch in my room.

" _Yo, pick up the phone, you're brother's calling you._ " I glanced down at my phone to see that my cousin, Charlie was calling me and frowned as I answered.

"You changed my ringtone again," I said, throwing myself onto the bed as I heard a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Hola chica, how's my little pea doing," Charlie asked, his voice almost teasing as he laughed at my annoyance.

"Do you have to be so weird, Charlie? Can't you answer the phone like a normal person?" I asked, pulling my laptop and checking to see if mum had left any emails.

"That's not why I'm calling," he said and I knew if he was here, he'd be leaning over me, the excitement vibrating off of him.

"Then why are you calling?"

"Cause you're boy's coming into town and he's managed to bring along his snarky, depressing other half."

"You've convinced Skywalker to come here with you?" I was generally shocked that Charlie's beau was willingly going to come here with him. It wasn't a surprise to Charlie that his boyfriend and best friend/cousin didn't get along.

Apparently, I was too much like my father with the sarcasm and Luke didn't like it.

"You know he hates it when you call him that," Charlie sighed, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. When are you getting here?" I hadn't seen Charlie in months and I was ready to see him now, even if he was bringing the Jedi with him.

"I've got some stuff to sort out and a gift to pick up for you so probably next Friday," he said and I could hear someone mumbling in the background. It was probably Luke complaining about how Charlie always spoiled me and I was turning into a brat because of it.

"You're getting me a gift? What is it?" Perhaps I was a brat, but I loved whatever gifts Charlie bought me, last time it was a trip to Disney World for a week and we went mental in all the parks.

"Ah, it's a surprise, you'll find out when we arrive on Friday, hopefully, we'll be there before the full moon."

"You're coming because of Klaus?" I asked, understanding now why Luke would even think about coming here.

"Of course, not that I don't trust Damon to protect you from the Original, but I'd feel happier knowing you had the two of us there too."

"Did my mother call you?" I wondered. Considering I'd mentioned Elijah to her in our last call, I could only assume that she'd contacted Charlie and asked him to come to watch over me.

"She's just keeping an eye out for you, plus you'd actually be surprised because Auntie Lily asked me to keep an eye on you." Now that was shocking.

"My grandmother asked you to come here? Did your Grandmother and Aunt Jasmine have anything to do with it?" I knew it was going to take a lot of convincing for my grandmother to even bother with me since she saw my future.

"Come on, Effie, you know they don't want a repeat of your mother. You're the strongest we've had in the family in a long time. Do you think they're gonna throw that away because there was a vision of you kissing a vampire?"

"Like you're one to talk. How does Aunt Lavender let you spend time with Luke? How are you even dating him?"

"I'll have you know that my Grandmother respects Luke, especially after he saved you from those witches you aggravated," Charlie said, and I squinted my eyes as I remembered the witches he was talking about.

"If I remember correctly, dear cousin, it was you that aggravated the witches and it was me that got the pain when they couldn't find you. It was because of you that Luke even bothered to stop them. You felt guilty that I ended up with a knife in my kidney!" I moaned, remembering the pain of being stabbed by some dagger that was meant to be cursed. "Luckily for me, they sucked at their magic."

"Okay, you got me on that one, how about I bring great-grandma Piper's grimoire and you can keep it this time?"

Seeing as Charlie was older than me, he was being trained to care for the grimoires and trained in how to properly run the family when the elders died. He was to be in charge of the family as the Elder unless there was a mage stronger than him. Which, as he stated earlier was thought to be me, but I wouldn't take this away from him. He'd been training his whole life for this and I wasn't selfish enough to take it away from him. I'd probably do what our grandparents were doing and have joint eldership.

"Charlie? Do you ever think we live in a messed-up family? Our wholes lives it's all been about magic and we've been lead down certain paths, you know it's expected for you to carrying on the bloodline even though you're gay, right? They want you to sire a thousand babies!" I was being dramatic, but it was true. They wanted little Charlie's running around casting spells.

"I'm hoping that's what my brothers are for," he mumbled, but we both knew he was expected to have children too, especially considering he was stronger than his brothers.

"I'm sure you could find a surrogate and Luke could be mum," I teased confident that the vampire was with him and could hear me.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it will be me that'll be mummy," Charlie said, laughing as Luke grumbled in the background.

"Speaking of mums, did you ever find out what my mum said to your mum?"

A couple of months ago, before my mum sold off the house, we'd caught our mums having an argument and we'd been trying to figure out what it had been about all along.

"Umm actually, it was about your dad." Why did he sound so nervous?

"What? About Damon? What's he done now?"

"No, not Damon, your birth dad. Look—" a buzzing from my phone alerted me to another call so I pulled the phone from my ear to check who was calling.

_Jenna._

"Oh, Charlie, I've got to go, I'll call you later, alright," I said ignoring his cries of my name as I hung up and answered Jenna's call. "Jenna? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure I'm dealing with this knowing thing," she grumbled, and I could hear her pacing through the phone. "Alaric just came round and I almost punched him in the face. I think I'm going to need you to help me out a bit."

"Okay, yeah, that's fine." I smiled at the stressed-out tone in her voice but felt proud that she wasn't asking me to erase her memories. "We can talk it over tomorrow, yeah? I need to do a bit of shopping anyway and you can show me around the town and then we can have lunch?"

"Sounds like a plan," she muttered and I could still hear how unsure of herself she was.

"Jenna, everything's going to be okay, alright? Just have a cup of tea, read a book and relax. We'll sort everything out tomorrow."

"Alright, I can do that," she mumbled and I heard her shuffling something as she took in a deep breath. "I'll pick you up about nine-ish," she added before saying a quick goodbye.

Right, now I was going to have to think of a way to help Jenna deal with this mess I got her into.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**I added Charlie into the story on a whim. I thought it would be nice for her to have a cousin that shares her magic and is also her best friend. I wanted there to be someone who could understand her situation, especially later on in the story. I also don't want it to seem like she's stealing Elena's friends, though she will be close to Caroline.**


	6. Two Tales of Magic

**I'm sorry for any mistakes you find in this.**

**I hope everyone's staying safe.**

**Love you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 23/06/20**

* * *

**TWO TALES OF MAGIC**

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine!" I called, climbing into Jenna's car as she waited for me out the front of the boarding house.

"I'm freaking out! Like seriously, how can my niece and nephew live in this world knowing about vampires and shit and not be freaking out every five minutes," Jenna replied in greeting, starting the car and driving into town.

"Whoa, Jenna, calm down, love. You've got me to help you deal with all this shit."

"I suppose you're right." She turned her head to look at me, frowning as she peered at my face. "Are you wearing glasses?"

I selfconsciously touched my glasses and pushed them up the bridge of my nose. I wasn't never normally bothered about my glasses, I thought the black square rimmed glasses suited me.

"Umm, yeah I kinda need them to read and stuff," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest as I sunk into the seat glancing out the window.

"I've never seen you wear them before."

"They usually get in the way, so I normally cast a spell. I don't really like doing that, it feels like cheating, using spells to improve my vision. I don't approve of vanity spells."

"I wouldn't call it vain, just practical," Jenna said as if she knew I needed the comfort from her words.

"What were you worried about last night? Was it something Alaric said?" I wondered, remembering why we were heading into town anyway.

"I was reading your notebook when he came by. I read something about how the ring he wears keeps him from dying."

"Yeah, it's a Gilbert ring, Jermey wears one too," I told her, seeing the tense nod she gave. She must have seen it on her nephew's finger.

"Why the hell would Alaric take the ring off then?" she asked and I could note the anger in her voice. She may be angry with Ric, but I knew she didn't want anything to happen to him.

"What do you mean he took it off?" There was no way Ric would take it off, not unless John had something to do about it. I remember him asking for it back at the historical tea party. Perhaps Alaric had given in and given it back.

"After we spoke, John came downstairs as I was leaving, I think he said something to Ric and Ric took off the ring before he left. I'm sure I saw it on John's finger this morning." She sounded worried and I knew she was concerned over Alaric. He hung around vampires, and I was sure there was something in that notebook about how Ric died the other day because of the wolves. It was bound to happen again.

"Look, the ring does belong to John. He gave it to Isobel after she had Elena and she wore it until she became a vampire and left it to Ric. It's understood that John wanted it back and if Ric didn't do it, John would tell you all about Isobel. In a weird sense, Ric's trying to protect you."

"I don't need him protecting me!" she groaned, pulling the car to a stop outside a nice boutique.

"Yeah, but they don't know that, Jenna, not until you tell them that you know." It was up to her when she told them, but we both knew she only had until the end of the month. Klaus would be here by then to break the curse. "I think I can make a new ring for Alaric, one he won't ever have to give back."

"You could do that?" she asked, and I could hear the happiness in her voice. She really did care about Ric, even if he was lying to her.

"It's not that hard of a spell … okay, I've never done it before, but I'm confident it will work. I've done similar spells before. It's a simple protection charm and then a death prevention charm."

"You know, I saw your family tree last night. There's a lot of women in your family." Jenna opened the door to the shop and ushered me in. We gave a polite smile to the lady behind the till but waved off her offer for help.

"Yeah, each daughter always births three daughters. Well, until my grandmother's generation. Her and her two sisters kind of broke that tradition. My grandmother only had my mum and her two sisters only had two daughters each." I knew it was a touching subject with the three of them, they felt like they'd broken the tradition of having three daughters. "Though my Aunt Jasmine's two daughters have each had three daughters and I know my Aunt Lavender's daughter, Heather has one and is pregnant with female twins."

"But doesn't your cousin Ivy have five children? Three sons and two daughters?"

"Charlie, Thomas and William aren't her birth children. Their father is a warlock and had them from a previous marriage. Cousin Ivy blood adopted them, so they are part of the family and have a link with our magic, but they aren't actually from the family-bloodline if that makes sense? There's never been a male born into the bloodline."

"Never? I find that hard to believe," Jenna muttered as she walked around the shop, picking up a cute dress that was white and had pink flowers covering it. It was a pretty dress and I knew I had to buy it.

"I'm being honest, there's never been a male born into the bloodline. You know, my mother was hoping to break that tradition, she wanted me to be a boy just to rub it in her mother's face, but she was glad I was a girl. Especially because I apparently softened Damon's heart."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around him being your dad, even if you're adopted." Jenna held up a cute button up top, and I nodded, wanting to add it to my pile. It seemed that she got a sense of the things I liked. "You don't really have a set fashion do you?" she asked, nodding to the jean shorts, white cami and blue checkered button-up I was wearing. "Yesterday you had on a cute blue floral skirt and a pink top and now you look like a lumberjack."

"I just like clothes, Jenna, if I can wear it well then it doesn't bother me. Sometimes I need to be practical about what I wear and at other times, I like wearing cute dresses or skirts."

"You got a boyfriend you like to impress?"

It was almost comical that Jenna thought I had a boyfriend. It seemed that was one thing my mother and Damon could agree on - me not having a boyfriend. Anytime I came close to a relationship one of them compelled whatever boy had my fancy to forget that he was attracted to me and the next day he had no interest whatsoever.

"Yeah, that's impossible, Jen, trust me, my dad does anything he can to prevent that from happening," I mumbled, remembering one time how he caught me in the middle of a make-out session with a boy on my sixteenth birthday and threatened to kill him if he touched me again.

"I guess there are some natural fatherly instincts in him," she said, shrugging as she added more clothes to pile in her arms, not bothering to ask if I liked them. She probably knew I would.

"You know, he always wanted a family, the whole wife and kids thing, but when they turned, he had no hope for that. Then he was lucky enough to stumble across my mum when she had her car accident and in saving her, he got me as a daughter," I told her, wanting her to see Damon in the light I did.

Don't get me wrong, I knew he was capable of doing bad things, but half the time he did that because he cared too much and he didn't get anything in return for caring.

"Maybe we could find someone to set you up with."

"There's too much going on to find someone to romance me, Jenna. Perhaps after the manic known as Klaus is dealt with?"

"Yeah, and then we can set you up with someone cute that will worship you." Jenna glanced around the shop, before leaning on and whispering, "You know, Tyler Lockwood is single, and he's good looking."

"He's also a werewolf, Jenna, and currently out of town with the woman that tortured me and my dad."

"Umm, didn't think about that, sorry," she mumbled, then held up the pile of clothes in her hands, and nodded to the till. I followed after her, already struggling with my own pile.

At least I got some new clothes and got to spend some quality time with Jenna.

"We should go and get a coffee after this, I have to spend all my free time not thinking about the fact that I'm being enrolled into school on Monday," I grumbled, pulling out my card.

"That will be good, a bit of normalcy for you while you settle down here," Jenna said thanking the lady as we took our bags and headed out to her car. "Come on, let's go grab a coffee and you can tell me more about all this supernatural shit."

* * *

Coffee with Jenna ended up turning into lunch and lunch with Jenna was a surprise and for three reasons. First, we didn't speak one word about the supernatural. Second, Jenna was flirting with the waiter, and I was sure she gave him her number. Third, Jenna agreed with Damon about enrolling me into the school and even insisted that she go with us on Monday when he enrolled me.

For someone who thought she was doing a shitty job at being a guardian, she seemed to be enforcing the rules on me quite well.

"What are you going to do about Alaric?" I asked, watching as her eyes followed the waiter, Mark, as he went back to the kitchen.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that I can't trust him. I know he was doing it to protect me, but he should have trusted me and he didn't. How can I trust someone who doesn't trust me?"

"He really does care about you, Jenna, I can see that without looking in his head," I told her, not wanting her to make any big decisions.

Jenna went to open her mouth but frowned as her phone vibrated on the table. He flicked through the text and raised her eyes to me, rolling them.

"Ric asked to meet up, again. It's like the tenth message from him today."

"Just tell him you're helping me out today. You could say I'm missing my mum so you want to spend some girl time with me," I said, bringing my coke to my lips and shrugging at the look she gave me. I wasn't against lying to him. "He's lied to you, so why can't you lie to him?"

Jenna shook her head and laughed, but as she typed away to Ric, I knew she was lying to him.

* * *

Sundays had always been chill-out days for me.

I didn't follow the time at all, just wandered around minding my own business as I tried to forget about the supernatural world that existed.

I think it was set into me as a child when mum decided to move me in with Grandma Lily and she forced hours upon hours of magic lessons on me throughout the week. And on the odd occasion, she locked me in the cupboard under the stairs on a Sunday until I mastered a certain spell she insisted I learn.

When Damon learned about it, he had taken me back into his custody and refused to give me back to mum for well over a year. It had been a hard time for her as he even refused to let her see me.

The only good thing out of it was that mum learned Grandma had done it to torture her and she never learned to trust her again.

Thankfully, Grandma had apologised and Aunt Lavender had cast a spell preventing me from entering the cupboard. In a mix, I felt like Harry Potter and Matilda. But yeah, because of the trauma, I tried to avoid magic and supernatural on Sundays.

"Hey." I glanced up at Caroline as she waved her hand in front of my face. "Can I join you?" she asked, looking around the mildly empty Grill.

"Of course," I said with a smile gesturing to her to take the seat in front of me. I was hidden away in one of the booths, hoping no one would bother me, but Caroline was a welcoming presence.

"I heard through the grapevine that you're starting school tomorrow," she sounded excited and I couldn't understand why.

"I'm not too keen on the idea," I told her, fiddling with the straw in my coke. "I've spent a lot of my time mixed between going to school or being home-schooled, a lot more time being home taught. Being from a witch bloodline, and a powerful one at that, most of my schooling was based around magic and spells."

"You're in our year, right?" she asked, remembering that I had turned seventeen this year. "Your birthday was on Valentine's?"

"Yep, good old Valentine," I grumbled, hating that I shared the day with the supposed day of love. I often got forgotten about or mum and dad would over-exaggerate the day.

"Tyler Lockwood was born on the tenth, he's happy he was early and not late," she muttered and I had to wonder if she remembers everything about everyone she met.

"I was actually six weeks early. My mum got in an argument with my bio-dad. He was married and his wife had just had their firstborn, he was trying to make it clear to my mum that I was a mistake. A lapse in his weakness after he found out his wife was pregnant. She was angry and hadn't been paying attention when she was driving." I shrugged as if it didn't bother me, and it didn't. If my biological dad hadn't have driven my mum away, I would have never had Damon. "She ended up crashing which caused her to go into early labour. She was lucky Damon was nearby when it happened."

"What a way to start your life," she mumbled, waving at Matt as he came to take our order. "Hey." She frowned as he ignored her, turning to me for my order.

"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger please, with extra fries, coleslaw and onion rings, no ranch dressing," I said to him, sharing a look with Caroline as he reluctantly turned to her for her order.

"The same," she muttered, frowning as he nodded and walked off.

"Have I misread the situation or is your supposed boyfriend giving you the cold shoulder?" I asked because the way Matt was acting around her was anything but boyfriend behaviour.

"I think he knows I lied to him," she admitted, running her hand through her curls.

"When did you lie to him? Well, besides not telling him you're a vampire," I added, getting a clear picture that most people around here were oblivious to that knowledge. Though I would have thought he knew considering all of his friends were either supernatural or in the know.

"Jules kidnapped and tortured me when I was meant to meet up with him. I told him I was with Bonnie, but she was actually here with Jeremy. I think he knows."

"Have you ever thought about telling him the truth?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as she gave a small shrug. "Sometimes, telling them the truth keeps them safe as they aren't naive to our world."

"You've never had to tell someone, have you?" she questioned and I could understand how hard it could be. Fortunately for me, I grew up in this world and never had to explain it to anyone besides Jenna.

"Well, actually if you want to put it mildly, I may have told Je—"

"I got you a refill," Matt said, cutting off what I was about to admit to Caroline.

"Thanks, Matt," I said, smiling at the boy as he placed a coke in front of Caroline before walking off to the bar. "He's just hurt, Care. He still cares, but you hurt him."

"How do you know?" she asked, leaning forward and reaching out for a straw.

I tapped the side of my head and gave her a sly smile.

"Part of being a mage. I can read minds and feelings with a little push," I told her, seeing the surprise on her face.

"You're different to Bonnie." It wasn't said in a bad way and I wasn't really sure what she meant by it. "Are you stronger than her?"

"In the sense that I've been using my powers since I've been born, yes. In the academic sense, yes. I can cast, chant and produce spells better than her. I can brew potions and use herbs in my spells, whereas she's still learning." I paused as Caroline's eyes flickered over my shoulder and nodded to indicate that Matt was on his way over.

"Enjoy," he said as he placed the food on the table and walked off without a glance at Caroline.

"Go on," she said, sadness lingering in her eyes.

"We are two different types of witches. She comes from the Bennet bloodline, one of the strongest in the world that consumes magic from nature. I'm a mage and we're kind of weird when it comes to magic. My family was cursed due to a sacrifice they made two thousand years ago. They made a blood sacrifice and were then bound by Mother Nature to turn them into witches."

"How is it a curse?" Caroline asked, dipping her fries into some ketchup.

"To cast a spell, or make a potion, you have to be willing to sacrifice something in return. Normally, in our case, it's blood-related. It was meant to be painful, but we've grown since then, we deal with it. We've adapted and we don't really need to use blood anymore, not unless you want a really powerful spell." I took a sip of my coke and a few bites out of my burger. Caroline seemed to be pondering something as she looked thoughtful.

"Why doesn't it hurt anymore?"

"When we're born, we go through a sort of christening, being bound to the ancestors and all that. Our magic binds us with them which gives us access to their powers. It's through this bond that we are able to practice our magic without making a sacrifice. They counterbalance the curse, they take the pain that we have to suffer because it was, in their words, their fault we have to suffer. We're not using their power, we don't need it to use our magic, we just use it to lessen the pain."

Caroline nodded her head as she took it all in. It was nice talking to her like this. I felt I could trust her, just as I did with Jenna.

"It's not like that anymore, though. We've evolved over the last couple of hundred years. More of us are using nature and the atmosphere and less of us are relying on our blood. In a sense, because our blood is running through our veins, it's easier for us to cast spells. There's this energy that vibrates from within me and when I link it with the atmosphere around me, it makes me stronger."

I reached out and took Caroline's hand and rested it on my arm. Her eyebrows rose as she stared at her fingers and I knew she could feel the tingling as her fingertips brushed my skin.

"Wow. What is that?"

"It's my magic. Damon said he could feel from my birth. It runs through my blood."

"That's amazing," she whispered, letting her fingers trail up my arm and rest on the Vegvísir I had just beneath my elbow. "What's this mean?"

"Sometimes our magic is so strong it leaves a mark. Sometimes they form in the shape of scars, but most of the time we're gifted with tattoo markings." I ran my fingers over the Viking compass and felt the smooth skin beneath it. "When we reach our sixteenth birthday we go through another christening, this one allows us to open up to the world and let our magic flow through us. We're kind of dangerous as children. We don't know how to control our powers so they have to be bound until we're sixteen. We can still use our magic, but there's a limit on the power we can use." I tapped the compass and thought of the best way to explain it to Caroline.

"Why that compass thing?" she said as if reading my mind.

"It's a symbol of protection and guidance. There are different meanings to it, I'm sure one person could tell you one thing and another person will tell you the opposite. To my family, it means that you can never lose your way, even when the way is unknown." It was probably one of the strongest sayings in my family, better in my opinion that the family motto.

"I wish I heard that after I transitioned," Caroline grumbled, removing her hand from my arm and finishing off her fries.

I smiled at her and dug into the rest of my burger, thinking about how hard it must have been to become a vampire, considering she didn't ask for it.

"We also get another marking when we're first christened after birth," I told her, turning and lifting my hair to show her the tree on the back of my neck. "It's our family sigil. It represents magic and the bloodline we come from. I think my family is the only family that still carries out the tradition. It's like a coat of arms."

"Does it have a meaning?"

"Storms make trees take deeper roots." I took note of the confusion on her face and laughed. "I know, they're shit. My cousins and I tend to think it really means that we are stronger than we seem, braver than we believe and smarter than we think." In all honesty, our words were better than the family motto. "I read one of the ancient grimoires a few years ago and found a saying. 'You are not just the tree, but the branches that reach to the sky and the roots that hold you steady during the storm.' I believe those words are the family motto."

"They seem to link in with the sigil," Caroline said and I knew she was thinking of the roots at the bottom of the tree.

"Magic is complex, Caroline. I doubt anyone really understands it." We both paused as Matt came to collect our plates and I pulled out my purse and let the money for both of our meals. "I've got to charm a new ring for Alaric. Do you want to help?" I asked, knowing she would find it interesting.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Please do not 'quote' me on my knowledge on the Viking Compass. While I have researched it, I don't want anyone to believe that all my knowledge is true. I may be wrong, but I'm sure I'm somewhat right int eh beliefs of the Viking Compass. If I'm not, please feel free to correct me.**


	7. The Great Fire Of ...

**Another, lovely, new chapter for you all. Please enjoy.**

**I want to apologise for any mistakes, I always miss them, I swear they just randomly appear after I proof-read. Or it might be the fact that it's 2:15 in the morning as I finished this off.**

**Please enjoy this chapter and think you for all the support all of you have given me.**

**Love you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 23/06/20**

* * *

**THE GREAT FIRE OF ...**

* * *

If someone would have told me that at one point in my life I'd be entering a high school with Damon on one side of me and Jenna on the other I would have thought them crazy.

I felt weird walking down the hallways with them both, and I was sure it looked just as weird to everyone watching. From the smirk on Caroline's face, I knew she could tell I was uncomfortable.

With reluctance and disgust, I followed Jenna and Damon into the principal's office, sending one last yearning look at Caroline.

Half an hour later I was released from the principal's office and tried to make a break for it. Damon grabbed hold of me before I could run and with a disapproving look from Jenna, I grumbled and crossed my arms.

"Not so fast, shortie," Damon said, dragging me over to a locker where Caroline was waiting. "Blondie, you take shortie to her classes, luckily I managed to compel your principal into giving her the same lessons as you." Damon pushed me into Caroline and I frowned at him as he turned back to Jenna. "You sure you took her memories?" he asked me, his head tilting to the side as Jenna typed away on her phone.

When Damon compelled the principle, he forgot that Jenna was there and seeing as she was on vervain, he asked me to use a memory spell on her. Considering he didn't know that she knew, we both thought it best to make him believe I was taking her memories.

"Yeah, she has no idea what happened to the principle." I looked back to Jenna, before turning to Caroline and huffing. "Take me to class, almighty one, before I change my mind."

* * *

Who knew that I could sort of be good at this school thing?

Waking up, going to school, actually learning things that didn't revolve around magic and talking to people my own age. I was also getting good at this making friends thing too.

Besides Caroline, Bonnie had accepted me, wanting to know everything about my magic, especially since hers had been taken by Jonas. Elena had also welcomed me into the group, but I had more of a feeling that had to do with Stefan being my uncle than her liking me.

She also wasn't keen on the amount of time I spent with Jenna.

I mean, I couldn't really blame her seeing as I met up with Jenna after school every day at the Grill. Jenna felt like she could be herself around me considering I wasn't lying to her and told her the truth. It wasn't my fault everyone else was lying to her. Well, it was in the sense that I accidentally revealed the supernatural world to her, but they still should be lying to her.

"Come on," Caroline said, barging in my room and throwing herself onto the bed. "We're having a sleepover at Elena's."

"It's Thursday, Caroline. We've got school tomorrow," I replied, not bothering to look up from the grimoire I was reading from. I was trying to find if there was a way I could get Bonnie's magic back.

"You didn't care about school a week ago and now you're acting as if you've got top grades and can't miss one second of a lesson."

"I have got top grades," I muttered, closing the book and rolling over to face her. "Why do we need to go to Elena's?"

"I'm still crying over Matt, Bonnie's still devastated over losing her magic, you're depressed about being in school." I snorted at that, seeing as I was coping well with being at school. "And Elena's just trying to be a good friend for us all."

"I can't be bothered, plus I haven't got time to pack a bag." I sighed dramatically and dropped back onto my bed, stretching my arms out. "I'll just have to stay here."

Caroline threw a duffle at me, the bag clearly filled with clothes and anything I would need the next day.

"Look, all done, let's go," she said cheerily leaving the room with a bounce in her step.

"I hate vampire speed," I grumbled, knowing full well that she could hear me.

* * *

It was easy to ignore Caroline as she stood over me, a frown of her face as I laughed maniacally as I killed the creature before me.

"Yeah, die you son of a bitch!" I shouted, nudging Jeremy as he tried to push me over. "Don't cheat."

"I brought you here for a girl's night, not to play zombie games with Jeremy," Caroline said, her arms crossed in disapproval. She was even tapping her foot against the ground.

"I'm bonding with him!" I exclaimed, tucking the controller under my arm as she reached out to grab it.

"Come on, Caroline, I haven't played this game in ages," Jeremy said, fluttering his eyes at her in the hope she'd let it go.

"Fine, five more minutes and then I'm taking her back."

"She talks as if I'm your child and you've got split custody of me in the divorce," I said to Jeremy, laughing as he got distracted and ended up dead. His body was torn apart by zombies as my character went on to kill more zombies while I waited for his to respawn.

"You did that on purpose," he grumbled, pushing me off the sofa, cheering as I died.

"You did that on purpose," I mocked, climbing back onto the sofa and shooting him even though I knew it wouldn't kill him.

"You're so childish," he muttered, moving his body as he dodged the zombies that came running at us on screen.

"Yeah, but you love it," I said, throwing a pillow at him as he started to get a higher kill count.

"Hey!" he shouted, kicking his foot out and pushing me into the arm of the chair.

"Jeremy!" I argued, shifting so my sock-covered feet were in his face.

"Eww, get your stinky feet out of my face," he grumbled, jumping at me, forgetting about his controller as he caught me in a headlock. "Who's the champion now?" He put in an evil laugh, rubbing his knuckles over my head as he sat on top of me.

"Jenna! Jenna!" I called trying to get her to save me as she walked down the stairs. "Help!"

"Are you sure you two are siblings?" she asked, looking down at us in disapproval as she turned to face Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline as they watched us from the hall. "They're fighting like siblings, right?"

"We're going out," Caroline announced, her eyes frowning in annoyance as I pushed Jeremy off me, laughing as he fell to the floor with a bang.

"What? Where? I thought we were getting pizza," I whined, climbing off the sofa and standing on Jermery's back as I walked over to them.

"Well, we're all emotionally depressed and they have live music at the Grill," she replied, looking at Jenna with big puppy eyes. "Want to come too?"

"Fine," Jenna grumbled as she looked at Elena and Bonnie who were also pulling puppy eyes.

"Right, okay, well I'll stay here with Jer," I said hoping they'd let me miss out on going to the Grill.

* * *

I followed after Caroline as she dragged me into the crowded grill and I grumbled to myself in annoyance as the loud music made my head pound. We all seemed to flow into the crowd without any hustle and it was nice to see Jenna relaxing after the week she'd had.

"I need a drink." Well, until she stumbled across Alaric as he made his way into the grill. I went to follow after her but was stopped when Matt made his way towards us.

"Hey, Matt." Caroline was rebuffed again and I felt her happiness flatter at the rejection.

I was debating whether to follow Jenna or stay with Caroline when Bonnie spoke, announcing how everyone felt.

"Things just got real awkward." I nodded in agreement, taking Caroline's hand and giving it a small squeeze as she looked longingly after Matt.

I turned my attention to Jenna and had to blink a few times as I saw her talking to Alaric at the bar. Well, no she wasn't talking to him, more like wiping his arse along the floor as she gave him a verbal beating.

"He said the ball's in your court," Bonnie said I drew my attention back to the three girls I was with.

"Yeah, but I can't do anything about it." Caroline was feeling some great pity for herself and I wanted to hit her over the head and knock some sense into her.

"Why not? All you do is talk about how much you care about him." Bonnie seemed to be on the same wavelength as me and I decided to let her talk before having my say. If I got to have my say, I was hoping Caroline would gain the courage before that.

"Yeah, but I am still keeping so many secrets." If they just started trusting people around her and told them the truth, then we wouldn't be in this situation.

"Alaric's in the same boat with Jenna," Elena said, glancing over at the man in question. I wanted to point out here that he wasn't seeing as Jenna knew about everything, but she still had until the end of the month to admit it to everyone. I was hoping it would all be solved before the weekend. I'd rather all the drama we were dealing with already be gone before Klaus arrived. "And maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway."

We were all silent as we let Elena's words sink in and I knew this would probably be the best time to announce that Jenna knew.

I was about to open my mouth and tell them when Caroline got this determined look on her face and shook off her jacket flinging it at me.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked as Bonnie helped remove the jacket from my face, trying not to laugh. I glared at her as I slung Caroline's jacket around my waist, tying it in a knot. "What are you doing!" Elena turned to us, concern on her face as she watched Caroline storm up to the stage. "What is she doing?"

"Hey everybody," Caroline's voice carried over the crowd through the microphone. "Let's hear it for the band." She was clapping now, but I was in shock just like Bonnie and Elena. "Weren't they awesome?"

"This isn't going to end well," Jenna said, making me jump as I didn't see her join us. She downed her shot and I nudged her and shook my head. She needed to be positive about this.

"So, there's this guy, and uh, he told me to tell him how I feel about him." Caroline gave a nervous chuckle and I felt my stomach churn as my body tuned into her emotions. "Like it's so easy. Umm, you know, just cause I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about. Ah, like now, I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself. Umm." The man on the stage reached out to take the microphone from Caroline but she grabbed it back, startled. "I can sing."

I turned to Jenna then, my eyes wide with pleading.

"We should abort! Grab Caroline and make a run for it," I said, turning to Bonnie to get her on my side. I wasn't sure if I could handle Caroline's emotions if this went bad. And on top of it all, I was experiencing a lot of anger and resentment from Jenna.

This was one of the downfalls of creating a new bond with people. Until I was accustomed to them and could handle their emotions, I was always bombarded with them for the first few weeks.

"Sing?" Elena asked, unsure as she shared a look with Jenna.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Caroline was bouncing now, the excitement running through her blood.

"Quick!" I said, taking a slight step forward and glanced at Elena. "What do we do?"

"You know what, I'm gonna sing." The man by her side said something to her and she turned, muttering to him. From the way she was looking at his face, I could only assume she was compelling him.

"We should leave. Come on, let's abandon ship," I muttered, growing tense as something in the air shifted as if warning me something big was going to happen. I was uncomfortable and it felt like my skin was crawling.

Caroline turned back to the microphone and the band started playing a familiar tune.

" _Close your eyes, give me your hand darlin', do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?_ "

"She's good," Jenna said, nudging me as if I was the one that had no belief in Caroline. It wasn't that, I just felt on edge and I didn't like it.

" _Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame? I believe it's meant to be darlin'. I watch you when you are sleeping, you belong with me._ " Jenna turned her head to the bar and I looked as she stared intently at Alaric. I wanted to nudge her over to him, to make this right. To sort things between them.

" _Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame?_ "

I could feel that Caroline meant every word she was singing. It was pure honest love from her and it made me smile as I looked up at her on the stage, singing her heart out for Matt.

" _Say my name, sun shines through the rain, oh life, so lonely, you come and ease the pain. I don't want to lose this feeling. Ohhhhhh,_ " Caroline held the note and I turned my head as I saw Elena slowly nod hers. I caught a glance as Matt made his way through the crowd up to the stage. " _No …_ "

I felt my nose sting and my eyes water as he grabbed her and planted a kiss to her lips, ending her song.

I wiped my tears as Jenna brought me into a hug, her hand rubbing my back as I snuffled with my overflowing emotions.

"It's a witch thing," I grumbled to her as she looked at me funny as I wiped my tears. Bonnie caught my tear-stained face and laughed, slinging her arm over my shoulder as she hugged me.

"Still think we should have left?" Elena teased, bringing me into a hug with Bonnie as we celebrated Caroline's success.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I muttered, pulling away and waving her off.

Twenty minutes later, I had managed to convince Jenna to get me a shot of tequila, against her better judgement. She moaned and grumbled about how she was breaking a bunch of her ethics about giving someone underage alcohol but begrudgingly gave it to me anyway.

"I'll be back in a second," I told Jenna as I caught sight of Alaric looking at us in disapproval. She rolled her eyes as she saw me making my way to him, but didn't bother saying anything. "Ric."

"I saw that," he said, nodding to the table Jenna was sat on with my empty glass. I rolled my eyes and shook my head but held up my right hand, showing him the clunky ring on my finger. I had charmed it into place as it was too big for me, but the right size for him. "What's that?"

"This is my gift to you," I said, sliding it off my finger and placing it in his hand. "I know John has his ring back and I'm not comfortable knowing you don't have it anymore. This was my dad's ring, my birth dad's," I added seeing the confusion on his face. "I've charmed it so it's just like the one you had before."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, slowly sliding the ring into place as he gave me a soft smile.

"You're a good man, Ric, and you're my dad's best friend even if he won't admit it. I don't want anything to happen to you." I glanced back at Jenna as she played around with my glass smiling up at the waiter that brought her a new drink. "Jenna cares for you too and I know she'll be devastated if anything happened to you." I turned back to face him and gave a little shrug. "Give her time and she'll come around." Though I didn't think it wise to tell him that they probably wouldn't go back to being in a relationship.

I gave him a small wave and made my way back to Jenna laughing as she slouched over in her chair, obviously drunk from the many shots she'd had in the last twenty minutes.

I had barely sat down when I saw Bonnie talking to a tall, dark-skinned man. Well, it wasn't talking. He was glaring down at her and seemed to be rather aggressive while Bonnie looked scared and was trying to convince him of something.

The lights over the stage blew up as he glanced at them and I knew he was a witch, no doubt the witch that had taken her powers. Jonas.

"What the hell," Jenna said, looking over to the stage, sobering up with her surprise.

More lights started blowing up until the power went out. I rose from the table and pulled Jenna up, looking around the place for someone familiar.

"Not a drill, Jen," I said to her, focusing on the man as he said something to Bonnie. "We've got a witch alert, find Elena." I pushed her away from me, ignoring her as she called out for me as I rushed into the crowd trying to find the doppelganger. I could already tell that Jonas was here for her.

I spun around as people started to scream and the bar set on fire. My eyes searched for Jenna and I sighed in relief as I saw Ric pulling her out of the grill. I watched as people started rushing around and caught sight of Bonnie falling to the floor and the witch walking away.

"Bonnie," I whispered, pushing my way towards her, colliding with Matt as he spotted her too.

"Bonnie! Hey, Bonnie!" he said, pulling her up to rest against him. I dropped down beside him and placed my hands on her face, waking her.

"Get her out of here," I told Matt, glancing around for Jonas, hoping to stop him.

"Dr Martin!" I snapped my head to Elena as I heard her voice and was thankful she was with Stefan. "I'm so sorry about Luka. I never wanted that to happen, but … at least let us help you get your daughter back."

"Only Elijah can do that," Jonas said and it solidified my guess that they'd daggered Elijah and probably had him hidden at the boarding house.

"You don't need Elijah," Elena replied and it seemed to piss him off as the flames burning around the grill grew in size. Elena stepped back into Stefan in fear as Jonas took a step towards them.

Caroline was suddenly on his back and the two of them were thrown to the floor as Elena and Stefan ran away. I took a step closer as Caroline screamed in pain, holding her head as he cast a spell on her.

"Caroline!" I shouted alongside Matt as we both rushed to her. Matt reached her first, barging into Jonas and pinning him up against the post.

"Get away from her!" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Matt, no!" Caroline screamed trying to get to him.

I looked between them both, not knowing what to do. Sure, Caroline was a vampire but she was in pain. But Matt was human and he was facing a witch. I took a step towards Matt ready to help him when Dr Martin broke a bottle and shoved it into Matt's neck.

"No!" I shouted, flinging my hand out and knocking the doctor down.

"Matt!" Caroline crawled to Matt's fallen body and I flung another spell at the witch, gritting my teeth as Caroline's distress overcame me.

Caroline's sobbing caused me to look down at Matt as he bled out and I knew that if she didn't give him her blood, he'd die.

I took in a sharp breath and looked down as a wooden leg from a broken bar stool stuck out of my stomach. I felt my eyes widening as my mouth hung open, saliva growing around my tongue as my body went into shock.

"Effie!" Caroline shouted, causing my eyes to flutter to her as she looked between me and my injury and Matt dying on the floor.

Without sparing her a glance, I held onto the wood and stumbled my way out of the grill, using a little magic to make the pain lessen. I fell through the door, my hands trying to grab onto something as my legs gave out beneath me. I was going into shock.

At first, I didn't feel it, but as the pain grew and I realised I was lying on the cold ground outside, bleeding out, I could feel my hands shaking.

I tried to bring myself into a slouched position against the wall, bringing my hands up to grasp the wood.

"No! No!" I knew that voice. It was familiar. Cold hands pushed mine away and I was vaguely aware of someone calling out. "Ric! What do we do?"

"Jenna?" I asked, blinking as I tried to focus on her in front of me.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," she said through tears, or at least, I think it was through tears. It wasn't very clear to me and I knew I was about to pass out. "Hey, hey, stay with me. Stay with me, Ethel. Ethel!"

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	8. Kiss Me, K-K-Kiss Me

**The timeline I'm using for this story is the one from The Vampire Diaries Wiki because it's one of the only timelines that has most of the information I'm looking for. It may not seem like it fits in with the show, but you all understand that there are time skips and all that jazz as they can't fit it all in forty-odd minutes.**

**I also want to say that, for the sake of this story, when I use songs, films, video games, etc, they may not always be chronologically correct when it comes to release dates. I'm sorry if that bothers anyone, but I'm in that sort of mood that if I like it, I generally want to include it in the story, and I get upset when I find out I'm like, months off on something.**

**Yeah, sorry for all the blabber. I just wanted to put it here in case someone says something later - this way I have an explanation.**

**Please ignore my spelling/grammar mistakes.**

**Loves you all xx Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 23/06/20**

* * *

**KISS ME, K-K-KISS ME**

* * *

" _Hello, love." I rolled over in the bed, my fingers brushing against the soft sheets as I turned to face the voice. "Goodmorning, sweetheart."_

_I let my lips curl into a soft smile as my eyes run over the face of the man in front of me. His hair curled around his forehead, the dark blond ringlets shining an almost strawberry blond in the light and his blue eyes were captivating. It was almost as if I would drown in them, sink down into their depths and become stuck by a raging storm._

_The man crawled up the bed, pressing his lips along my bare legs, over my hip bones, pressing a kiss to my stomach, a look of love plastered on his face. I dropped my hand into his hair, running my fingers through his curls. He pressed his lips to my wrist as his hand settles over my stomach as he gives me a pleasant smile._

" _Where's my little monster?" I ask, feeling my stomach flutter as the man presses kisses up my stomach and over my chest until he's nibbling at my neck._

" _I assure you, my love, our little monster is—" he's cut off as the door slams open and Damon barges in, his mouth covered in blood._

_His red eyes rest on me and he flashes over, his teeth ripping into my neck._

"No!" I shouted, waking up, my hand to my neck as I glanced around the hospital room in confusion.

"Hey." I flinch as Damon comes into my sight, moving away from his hand as he reached out to touch me.

"Ethel, you're awake," Jenna says, throwing herself at me as she sobs into my shoulder. "I've been so worried." She's crying. Like blabbering all over my itchy hospital gown making it itchier.

"I'm alright," I whispered, running my hands through her hair trying to comfort her. I glance at Damon and frown in confusion, trying to figure out the dream I had. "You bit me."

"No I didn't," he replied sounding confused, his eyes wide as he sent signals to Jenna. At this point, I didn't care. She knew about everything so why would I lie? I didn't see the point in keeping things from her.

"In my dream, you tried to kill me," I told him, feeling Jenna stiffen in my arms as she pulled back, her eyes asking questions I couldn't answer

"Well, you've lost a lot of blood. You were in surgery for hours. You're bound to have weird dreams," he said as if he'd found the perfect answer to him killing me in my dream.

"Where's Caroline?" I asked, remembering she was there last night trying to save Matt. "And Matt?"

Jenna shared a look with Damon and I knew it wasn't good. Had Matt died? Was there something they weren't telling me?

"Honey," Jenna started, settling on the bed and taking my hand in hers. "You've been here for a week. You lost a lot of blood and you crashed during your surgery. You went into a coma. We weren't sure if you were going to wake up."

That was news to me.

What had I missed? Had the curse been broken? No, not yet. There hadn't been a full moon yet, that was at the end of the month.

"Is Charlie here?" I asked, remembering that he was meant to come on Friday.

"He's been coming to see you every day," Damon said and I could only guess that Charlie was blaming him for it all.

"When can I leave?" I asked, glancing between them both. I didn't want to be stuck here any longer.

"I'll get your doctor," Damon said, leaving the room quickly as if he was avoiding something.

"Your mother's here," Jenna said as if reading my mind. I blinked at her in confusion and slowly nodded my head. "And Isobel was here."

"What? Elena's birth mother?"

"Yep." Jenna glanced awkwardly around the room and I caught sight of a cot set up by the window. "I didn't want to stay at home with all the drama so I've been staying here."

"All week?" I muttered, feeling my heart tingle at the thought of her staying here with me.

"Yeah. Caroline's been bringing me food and fresh clothes," she admitted taking my hand in hers. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Jenna had given me a brief explanation of what was going on.

She had explained how she told my mum and cousin, Charlie, that she knew about the supernatural world but no one besides me knew she knew and she wanted to keep it that way.

It was Jenna's way of getting all the information and finding out what she needed to know while I was out of action.

"So Matt's okay?" I asked, knowing that Caroline had successfully saved him.

"Yeah, but he's been compelled because he wanted to forget." I nodded at Jenna and turned to the bedside table, looking over the goofy card Caroline had made. "Elena was kidnapped by Isobel, who then took off her necklace and burnt in the sun. She's dead now at the hands of Klaus, and Katherine's gone missing."

"It seems I've missed a lot," I grumbled, shifting on the bed, placing my hand over my sore stomach. Unfortunately, because I'd been taken to hospital, I couldn't use any of my magic or herbs to speed up my healing process.

"My sweet girl," my mum said, coming into the room and to my side. Her soft fingers brushed against my face as she gave me a sad smile. "I was so scared when Damon told me what happened. I thought you promised to be careful."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my fault a witch decided to go on a killing rampage and try to kill one of my friends," I said, sharing a glance with Jenna as she tried to mask her laughter.

"Now, now, Etheldred, I've already made a fool of myself in front of Jenna, no need to do it again," she muttered giving Jenna a friendly smile.

"I can see where you get your beauty," Jenna said, smirking as she glanced at my mum causing her to roll her eyes and blush.

"Oh my god, are you turning into lesbians?" I asked, glancing at the flustered look between them. "Not that I care. Go, team girl. Woooo!"

"No, we're not," mum muttered seeming annoyed at my behaviour. "It's more of a sisterly bond."

"Where we talk shit about men and how they're all bastards," Jenna added, pulling out her phone. "We're going on holiday."

"What?" I asked, wondering if my confusion came from the drugs I had pumping into me.

"I've convinced your doctor to release you early and then we're getting out of Mystic Falls." Seeing the concern on my face, mum rolled her eyes again and I was unfortunately reminded how alike to her I was. "Not forever, darling, just until the twenty-fourth. We'll be back before the full moon."

That seemed ideal. If I could lose myself into nothingness for a couple of days without having to worry about any drama, then I was game. I needed to be ready for when the full moon came, especially since I knew it was all going to go wrong.

"Where are we going?"

"Well, I wanted to go to New Orleans, but Jenna said we needed to keep it family-friendly, so we're going to Florida." Mum didn't look too happy about missing out on a party down in Louisiana, but I knew she loved a good time in Disney. We'd had a fantastic time there when I was ten, we'd even managed to convince Damon to come.

"Who's going?"

"Well, I'm doing my parental duty and dragging Jermey with us. He's not happy about it, but without spilling the beans to me, he knows he has to go," Jenna said, shrugging her shoulder as if it was no big deal that she had basically blackmailed her nephew. "Elena, of course, refused to go."

"Charlie and Luke are coming too, along with your friend Caroline," mum said, causing me to be surprised.

"Caroline's coming?" I never thought she would leave the scooby gang to come with us.

"She's been under a lot of stress and wanted to get away."

"Oh, okay … when are we going? And how are we going to get out of school for a week?"

* * *

When mum and Jenna said we were going to Florida, I didn't actually expect us to be staying in Disney World.

Jeremy had been reluctant at first, but he'd bonded quite fast with Charlie once he showed him some magic. It seemed Jeremy liked the ones with magic. It had also been revealed to Jeremy and Caroline that Jenna knew about all the supernatural and she had made it clear that she was angry with him and that was why she took him away from Mystic Falls.

Unfortunately for Jeremy, Jenna had taken his phone as soon as we boarded the plane, so he was cut off from Bonnie and Elena and anything to do with Mystic Falls.

"I love this," Caroline sighed, pushing her sunglasses on top of her head as a waiter brought us another round of cocktails. Jenna laughed as mum and Caroline flirted with the waiter, knowing he would continue to serve us as he was compelled.

"Sun, relaxation and no drama," Jenna said, glancing over to Jeremy as he played water polo with Charlie and Luke. It was the first time I had ever seen the vampire relaxed when around me.

Jeremy, who had been so against the idea, was now acting like a normal teenager without the worries of the supernatural.

"Take it all in then, sweetcheeks, two more days and then you're all back to Mystic Falls." Mum was being honest, but it seemed Jenna, Caroline and I all realised that this wouldn't last forever. And mum wouldn't be coming back with us. She had things to do. Like hunting down a vampire that swore revenge on me for mum killing her boyfriend. You know, the usual vampire business.

"You know, I think I might invest in a beach house," I muttered, rolling onto my side to look at Caroline. "We could go anytime."

"I'd like that." Caroline's smile dropped from her face as she thought of something. "We have to help Elena first."

"Yeah, well it's a good thing I've been convinced to help Bonnie bring him down," I mumbled, flicking my eyes to Charlie seeing as he was the one to do the convincing. "Do you think that maybe after we kill Klaus things will go back to normal?"

"We can only hope, but honey, you're all vampires, witches, and werewolves. I don't think you're ever gonna have a normal life," Jenna said, rolling her eyes as Caroline glanced around nervously.

While Care was happy that Jenna knew, and she promised not to tell anyone, she was still on edge knowing that others knew what she was.

"Caroline, don't worry," I told her, giving her a knowing smile as I picked up my book. "If we're overheard, people will probably think we're really big fans and pretending we're part of the world."

"Are you really reading Twilight?" she asked disgustedly. Didn't Damon borrow the books from her?

"It's actually New Moon and if I find it boring, I have this to replace it with." I held up Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, one of my favourite Harry Potter books.

"My god, you are so boring!" Caroline muttered, pushing herself off her sun lounger and doing a perfect dive into the pool when she reached it.

"I'm thinking a little partying tonight might be good before we head back to trouble," I said, looking to Jenna and mum for permission.

* * *

The neon lights were flashing around the room and Jermey was jumping around to the music as Charlie hung onto his neck. Luke was standing next to them, a drink in his hand as he rolled his eyes at their behaviour.

While Jenna and mum agreed for us to go out, I wasn't sure they agreed to us drinking, but when you had two vampires with you, it was easy to compel your way into a club.

Caroline took my hand and spun me around, her laughter drowned out by the booming music. I hadn't seen her this relaxed since the night at the grill where she won Matt back. And then he totally freaked out on her and asked her to wipe his memory.

We had too much drama in our lives.

" _You're so hypnotizing._ " I turned to Caroline, my eyes wide as I realised what song was playing. She copied me with the wide eyes and we swung at each other, shouting the lyrics as we danced. " _Could you be the devil, could you be an angel._ " I spun around, grabbing hold of Jeremy as he stumbled towards us. " _Your touch magnetizing. Feels like I'm floating, leaves my body glowing._ "

Jeremy rolled his eyes and shook his head, trying to fight us off as we pulled him into a three-person dance, spinning him around and shimming up to him. He was laughing, his head thrown back as he shifted his shoulders in a robot move, swinging his arms as Caroline tried to grab him.

Caroline took my hand in hers, turning me until her chest was pressed to my back, our joined arms in the air as we swayed together, getting ready for the addictive chorus.

" _Kiss me,_ k-k _-kiss me. Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison._ " Caroline pressed her lips to my cheek, giving me a sloppy kiss as I twisted in her arms, turning to face her. I rolled my eyes but continued to lip-synch with her, shaking my shoulders at her as I swung my arms in the air wildly. "T _ake me, t-t-take me. Wanna be a victim, ready for abduction._ "

I turned back to Jeremy, to find him staring at us with his mouth hanging open. He looked confused and slightly aroused. Bless him, he was still a teenage boy and watching two girls dance probably got his motor going. I rolled my eyes at him again, and grabbed his hands, pulling him to dance with me.

Trying to get his mind out of the gutter, I started dancing like I was a mime, my hands pressing against the air as if there was a wall in front of me. Seeing that it was working, I decided to quit while I was ahead and started dancing like everyone else in the club, singing at the top of my lungs, swaying to the music.

I glanced over my shoulder, smiling when I caught sight of Charlie dancing with Luke, the vampire wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. They were cute and I could see why Charlie's grandma accepted Luke. The vampire was actually a softy at heart.

As if sensing what I had thought, Luke stuck his finger up at me, dragging Charlie over to the bar, grumbling as he led the way.

Turning back to Caroline, I was stopped short as the club disappeared and I was in the woods by Mystic Falls.

I was standing in a fielded area which was near water and there were three rings of fire burning, a person in each circle. My eyes landed on the circle closest to me as I felt a familiar bond tugging me towards it and was shocked to see Jenna slumped on the floor, crying.

"Jenna," I whispered, moving to her, stopping outside the ring of fire as it flared up at my approach. Her head snapped to me and I stumbled back in surprise as I was met with black veins under her eyes and blood around her mouth. "No! No!"

"You were meant to protect her!" I recognised that voice. Stepping away from Jenna, I caught sight of Elena in another ring of fire, tears streaming down her face. "You promised to protect her," she cried, her hands clutching her chest as blood started pouring out of her mouth.

It was then I saw the man standing behind her, his mouth pressed to her neck as he sucked the blood from her. My eyes focused on the floor, disgusted with my failer and I noticed that the rings of fire were gone. I stepped closer to Jenna but screamed when I found her dead, looking up at the sky.

"It seems you will not be needed." I turned at Elijah's voice, choking out as he ripped my heart from my chest. I blinked in pain, seeing Elijah turn into Caroline and then back into Elijah.

"Effie? Hey, hey, come on." That was Caroline, I was sure it was. I blinked again and saw the concerned blonde in front of me, her hands resting on my cheeks.

"Where are we?" I asked, noting that we weren't in the club anymore. Jeremy was standing behind her, Charlie and Luke also with him, looking at me with concern.

"You left the club," Caroline said, taking my hand in hers and leading me over to a bench by the water. When had we gotten near water? I looked out at the lake in confusion, not knowing where I was. "We've been following you for an hour. You were in some sort of trance. Charlie said we had to let it pass."

"You had a vision." He didn't ask because he knew.

That was what he was being trained for. He was going to be our guide as we reached our potential in our magic. He was taught to recognise all the signs of progressing powers and considering my grandmother and my mother both had the foresight, it was expected I would receive it too.

"What did you see?" Jeremy asked, and I almost smiled at the natural curiosity he had.

"I was at Klaus' ritual," I muttered, feeling the dread consuming Caroline and Jeremy at the mention of Elena's death. "I know what's going to happen." I turned to face them, determination settling in me. I might not be able to save Elena, but there was no way in hell I was letting any harm come to Jenna. "I know how to stop it."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**We got our first little glance of Klaus. While it may not actually be him, Ethel's already dreaming about him, so I wonder how she'll react when she finally meets him in the flesh.**


	9. Jenna's Da Boss Man

**This story is currently my jam - I literally dream of this story every night and it's motivating me to push it all out like a little baby. As you can see, being in isolation has driven me crazy.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. We're getting closer to coming face-to-face with Klaus.**

**Enjoy this and ignore all mistakes as you keep safe while you read this chapter.**

**Love ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 23/06/20**

* * *

**JENNA'S DA BOSS MAN**

* * *

"Oh baby, let's get down tonight. Ohh, baby, I'm hot just like an oven, I need some lovin'. And baby I can't hold it much longer, it's getting stronger and stronger." I ignored the look Caroline was giving me as I kept my eyes locked with hers. I winked and turned to face Jeremy, slinging my arm over his shoulder as we walked into the house. "And when I get that feeling, I want sexual healing. Sexual," I paused wriggling my eyebrows at Jeremy, laughing as he tried to push me away. "healing, oh baby. Makes me feel so fine— Hey!" I glared at Damon as he pulled my headphones off my head and threw them away. Thank god for wireless technology. "What's your problem?"

"I don't need to hear you singing that song," he grumbled, glaring at Caroline and Jeremy as if it was their fault.

"Hey! Don't blame me, she's been like that the whole drive back!" Caroline hissed, her eyes narrowing on me as I tried to give her a sweet smile. "She's been freaking out ever since she had her vision."

"Not so loud," Elena said, rushing over and placing her hands over Caroline's mouth. "Jenna might hear."

"Jenna already knows," Jenna said, coming into the house, her arms crossed over her chest as she gave Elena a disappointed look. "Front room! Now!"

"Oh, the doppelgangers' in the shit," I laughed, taking a step back as Jenna spun to face me, her glare just as intense.

"Not a word from you. I've spent the last couple of hours listening to you singing about sex!"

"Someone's in need of a little loving," I grumbled, screaming and running as Jenna threw her shoe at me. Where did she even get her shoe? Isn't she wearing both?

"Family meeting, now!"

"Who died and made her boss?" I asked, sharing a look with Damon as we all shuffled into the front room.

* * *

"Please sign here, and here," the lawyer told us, pointing to the two dotted lines on the deeds to the boarding house.

Elena said something to Bonnie and I rolled my eyes, snatching the pen from Elena's hand and signing my name where it was needed. Once my end was done, I dropped the pen on the desk and flounced out of the room, heading for the door.

I pull it open to see Stefan and Damon waiting outside to be invited into their home.

"You really think Bonnie could take on Klaus?" It seemed Damon was weary of the idea of leaving everything in Bonnie's hands.

"She said she could channel enough witches' power to kill him," Stefan said, giving me a soft smile as I leaned against the wall by the door. "Elijah thought that would work and he was an original, so."

"We just need to find him."

"Yeah."

"I could help," I muttered, injecting myself into their conversation having enough of them moping about like little lost puppies.

"Could she do one of those witch tracking spells?" Damon asked, ignoring me. I frowned at that, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at him.

"Nope. Not without something that belongs to Klaus," Stefan replied, flashing a look at me as if he was agreeing with me. "Believe me, I already asked."

"I can find him," I said, pushing forward slightly so Damon would look at me.

They both rested against the wall, looking in my direction, but neither locked eyes with me. What was the point of me being here? They knew I was strong with my magic, yet they refused my help.

"Do you think he killed her?" Damon wondered and for a second I had to wonder who they were talking about but remembered about Katherine. Katherine had been taken by Klaus the day after the fire at the grill and hadn't been seen since.

"Katherine?" There was a silent exchange between brothers and I could feel the pain they were both feeling, even if they didn't want to admit it. "Probably."

"It's not like she didn't have it coming." He may have said the words, but there was no malice behind them, just pain.

"Yeah," Stefan agreed, the same amount of pain in his voice.

I really didn't understand men sometimes. Why did they think it made them seem weak to show their feelings?

The door opened to Elena and the lawyer, causing the three of us to move towards the door.

"Thank you, Mr Henry," Elena said, the smile on her face large as she bid the lawyer goodbye. I rolled my eyes at the look on her face and entered the house, following behind her as she walked off. She turned around again, a look of realization on her face. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot."

I turned, laughing as Damon and Stefan were locked out because they no longer owned the house.

"I forgot too," I laughed, biting my lip at the look Damon sent me. Elena laughed too but I could tell she was putting it on as she took a step closer to the door.

"Stefan, would you like to come inside my house?" She was being flirty with him and I was keen to come up with new house rules which banned googly love eyes and disgusting flirting between doppelgangers and vampires.

"I would love to. Thank you," he said, stepping into the house, sharing a look with her.

Ah, I got it now. They were trying to make a point to Damon.

"What are we, twelve?" Damon asked, the smile on his face clearly forced. He obviously understood what was happening too.

"One of us is." When I looked at Elena like this, it wasn't just her appearance I could compare to Katherine, and I'd only met her once. "If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?"

"No."

"Seriously, Damon. My way. You promised. I call the shots." I could feel like this was going to go on and she was going to drag it out until he couldn't do anything in his own house.

"Damon, would you like to come in?" I asked, ignoring the sharp look Elena sent me as if I had betrayed her.

"Thank you, my darling daughter," he said, coming inside and pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

I followed him into the study, dropping on the sofa, frowning as Bonnie came up to Elena, her jacket in hand. Where were they going?

"Wait, where are you going?" Stefan asked, the confusion in his voice as clear as the look on his face.

"To school," she replied as if it was obvious.

"Huh?"

"No, no, no. We didn't create a safe house for you to leave it," Damon said as if that was obvious too. Which, you know. It kinda was.

"Yeah guys, Klaus is out there." Well done, Stef, point out more obvious things. "We know that." And now he was talking to them as if they were five.

"Right? But where?" She didn't even bother to give them a chance to respond. "No one knows. Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing, and I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I'll be safe here, but I'm not going to be a prisoner." She had a point. What was the point of living locked up if you knew you were gonna die at the end of the month?

"Don't worry," Bonnie said as if she could sense where this was going. "I'm ready. If he shows his face, I can take him. I know how."

"It's not about knowing how, Bonnie. We don't even know what he looks like," I added, scrunching my nose up in disbelief at this witch. I knew there was a reason I couldn't and didn't trust these sorts of witches. Once they got real power, they acted stupidly with it. Like they actually owned the magic and power coursing through their veins.

"The way I see it, next to Bonnie is the safest place that I can be," Elena said, ignoring the really important fact I just mentioned.

"Yeah, until you get killed." That apparently wasn't appreciated by the look Stefan sent me. I held my hands up and took a step back, rolling my eyes at the atmosphere in here.

"Come on," Elena said, leading Bonnie out of the house.

"Wait. I'm coming," Stefan said after sharing a look with Damon. If the doppelganger wanted to go live her life, why not do it. It's not like Klaus wasn't waiting for her out there. Hiding around the corner as he knew where she lived. She was stuck between a wall and a hard place, and that hard place was Klaus.

"Go on." I glanced at Damon, frowning as he gave me a pointed look, pointing to the door. "Off to school with you."

"What? I'm not going. There's a murderous lunatic out there." It seemed my defence wasn't working as he sped over to me and within seconds I was in Elena's car, strapped in the back. "You suck!"

* * *

"Caroline!" I shouted, flinging my arms around her as she came into view. "Damon made me come to school!" I cried, trying to force out some fake tears.

She rolled her eyes as she exchanged a look with Stefan, taking my hand in hers as she pulled me into the classroom, pushing me into the seat next to hers.

"You're being dramatic," she muttered, carefully setting her pens and notebooks on her desk.

"I want to be back in Florida," I told her, looking out the window longingly. It was so much better when we had nothing to worry about.

"Hello, class." I snapped my head to Alaric as he entered, feeling something very off about him. "What … are we learning today?"

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties," Dana said. Well, I think it was Dana. Could have been Danielle for all I care.

"Right. The sixties." Something was definitely wrong with Ric. And the way he was looking at Elena was creeping me out.

There was some weird mojo going on here. I could feel magic in the air. Glancing at Bonnie, I tried to feel if she was casting a spell or something, only to find her doodling in her notebook.

Strange.

"The er, ahem … the sixties." He started writing on the board, a massive 60. "I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but … actually, they kind of sucked. Except for The Beatles, of course, they made it bearable. Uh, what else was there?" He was pacing in front of the room as if he was unsure of himself. It was as if he wasn't used to this teaching thing he was doing. "The Cuban missile thing, the eh … we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric," Elena said, causing everyone to turn and face her at her casualness of calling her teacher by his first name. "I-I mean, Mr Saltzman."

"Right. It's kind of all mushed together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena." Right, Creepy Ric seemed to be here. Perhaps Jenna's cold shoulder was getting to him.

* * *

These people put too much effort into all these dances and balls and things. Why was it essential to hold so many of these things all the time?

Bonnie and Jeremy sat at my table talking about Bonnie's powers and if she'd be able to take on Klaus.

They were making things more suspicious by leaning in close together and glancing around as they spoke about witches and their power. They could always just pretend they were part of a Dungeons and Dragons club, it would explain why we're always talking about the supernatural. I might start a D&D club. I wonder if Caroline would join ...

"What? What are you gonna do?" I started listening at the tone Jeremy used, releasing that Bonnie had threatened him.

"Yes, Bonnie, please do tell me how you're going to hurt Jeremy for being concerned about you," I added, making them both realise that I was sitting at the table. Hey! I was here first bitches.

"Hey, Jer. How are you doing?" Elena joined us before Bonnie could reply and I gave the witch a warning look as I followed Jeremy with my eyes as he stood. "Are you okay at the house alone with John?"

Ah, yeah, I forget Jenna had run away to her uni campus because of Elena. When we told her all about knowing on Saturday, Elena had flipped out and wanted to take Jenna's memories. Damon had even tried but found he couldn't due to the necklace I gave her.

Now, Elena was trying to find anything to blame on me. It's why she wasn't happy I was signing the deed to the house too.

"It's not ideal."

"You haven't heard from Jenna have you?" It would probably piss Elena off more if I told her I was speaking to Jenna more than once a day. Mainly because Jenna kept coming up with questions she needed me to answer, but I think it would piss Elena off because it was me.

"She's staying on campus," Jeremy said, sharing a look with me because we both knew she was coming home today. Actually, she was moving into the little cottage mum bought me not too far from the Lockwood mansion. "Look, I'm uh, I'm late for class."

"Bye, Jer!" I shouted, waving after him as Bonnie lied to Elena about what was wrong with him.

This is why there was no trust. Everyone was too busy lying.

"Hey, Elena, there you are," Dana, I was sure it was Dana, said as she came to the table. "Okay, this is going to sound freaky, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight."

Elena looked between Bonnie and I. I could see that Bonnie didn't look too impressed.

"Tell him she has a boyfriend." Yep. I knew Bonnie wasn't happy about it.

"You could at least meet him. He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him, his name is Klaus."

"Holy shit," I muttered as it dawned on the three of us that Dana had been compelled and Klaus was closer than we thought.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"His name's Klaus," Dana repeated the same time I spoke.

"The lunatic's here!" Bonnie shot me a look and I almost rolled my eyes. That was a habit I needed to lose.

"I know the name's stupid, but I swear he's hot," she carried on, ignoring me just as Elena did.

"Where is he? Is he here?" Bonnie asked and I wanted to hit her for being stupid. Of course, he wouldn't be here. He was playing us.

"He's not gonna be here, Bon, he's playing mind games," I told her, flicking my eyes around the cafeteria as if the man we were all waiting for would appear. "We don't even know what he looks like."

"I don't know." It seemed that Bonnie realised she had been compelled.

"She's been compelled." Yeah, no shit Sherlock.

"Yeah, we know," I muttered, resting my head in my hand in disbelief. Sometimes people were so slow to catch on.

"But he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance. How cute is that?"

"Yuck, that's disgusting," I muttered pretending to be sick as Elena sat there in shock. How old was this guy? A billion years old and he wanted to dance with a seventeen-year-old. Yeah, he was definitely playing with us.

* * *

After all the drama going on about the decade dance, I wasn't even allowed to go.

When I got home from school Charlie and Luke were taking me to Jenna, and the three of us were going to stay with her on campus.

Or that's what Damon thought.

We thought it would be best to make the move to my cottage and set everything up for Jenna to get comfortable. It was also there for me to move into and it was a place where Damon wasn't invited. No offence to him, but it would be nice to have a place where no vampires could reach me.

"Umm, you're gonna need to invite me in," Luke said, standing out the front of the cottage, an unimpressed look on his face.

"Oh, sorry. There's a shed at the bottom of the garden. You can sleep out there," I teased, running into the house before he could come after me.

"Sorry about her, Luke," Jenna said, waving Charlie in as she glared in my direction. "Won't you come in?" Luke stepped through the door and I screamed in frustration at the smug looks the three of them gave me. "Your mother knows what you're like, she added my name to the deed as well."

"I feel like you just told me to shove my head up my arse," I grumbled, climbing up the stairs and to the master bedroom which would be mine.

It was cute. Decorated in creams, greys and greens, the bedroom had a sort of rustic feel to it. There was a large wooden king size bed in the middle of the room with sage and cream bedding and a grey throw over the bottom. There was a canopy coming down over the centre of the bed, with fairy lights embedded within the canopy.

A vanity table was opposite the bed in the same greyish wood that matched the wooden bed frame and a plush seat placed in front of it. On the vanity were all the products I used and a cute photo frame with a picture of me and mum inside.

On the large, bay window seat, there was an arrangement of pastel pink and sage pillows and little cacti hanging from the ceiling in front of the window. It was cute and it was very much me. Mum knew me too well.

"My room is exactly like this, but pink," Jenna said as she came into the room two cups of coffee in her hands. "How did she know I'd be moving in?"

"Even though she's a vampire now, I still think she has these dreams that are like visions. It's like our ancestors didn't want her to completely lose her magic," I told her, climbing onto the bed and smiling as my eyes caught sight of the bookshelf made out of an old set of wooden ladders.

"Charlie is jealous." I smiled at the thought of Charlie being jealous. "He thought it was going to be some cute, small cottage. He wasn't expecting four bedrooms upstairs and a guest bedroom downstairs." Jenna glanced around the room, her eyes settling on the door on the other side of the built-in closet. "Have you got a master bath?"

I shrugged and watched her climb off the bed towards the door. She let out a grunt as the door opened and even from my bed I could see the freestanding bath in the middle of the bathroom.

"I wish I had your mum," she muttered, stepping into the bathroom and spinning around as she took everything in.

"Well, you heard what she said. You're like her sister. This is your house just as much as it is mine," I told her, giving a small shrug as she looked at me seriously. "Jeremy's more than welcome to stay if he wants. It's also a safe place for him as no vampires besides Luke can enter."

"I'll think about it," she said, but I knew the thought of Jeremy having a home where no vampires could enter was appealing. "Have you seen the greenhouse in the garden? Charlie's excited about it."

"He will be. He's like the potions master in our family. Well, he's like the Dumbledore of our family. He's been trained to know everything. He's the go-to man of our generation."

"Yeah, I remember you saying that before. Does it not worry him? To have that weight on his shoulders?"

"He'd rather have that job then be the mage with all the powers. Unfortunately for me, it's looking like I was the one blessed with that prophecy, or at least they all think so, considering my marking," I told her, thinking about the weight that was expected of me. It's what drove my grandma to her crazy antics when I was involved. She was probably jealous I was the one prophesied to have the same amount as magic as the original three combined.

"Are you talking about the flowers and vines on your side and ribs?" Jenna asked, nodding to my right side where the intricate floral design was. There were three main flowers in the design, cherry blossoms, tulips and snapdragons. Each flower was like a coat of arms from each of the original witches. Tulips for Agnes, cherry blossoms for Ingrid and snapdragons for Etheldred.

"The elders believe because they're all entwined and because the markings have never been seen before, I'm prophesied to be as powerful as the original three." I rolled my eyes as I sipped at my coffee, ignoring the concern on Jenna's face. "To be honest, I think it's a load of rubbish and wishful thinking. All my ancestors, my grandmother and her sisters have spent their whole lives waiting for one of us to grow in our powers to gain this mark, and here I was, barely sixteen-years-old and it appeared out of nowhere. A bit cliche if you ask me."

"Some people feel they can only get places in life if they have a destination. For them, it was hoping they had the chance to have these awesome powers," Jenna said as if it was helping me. I glanced down as my phone buzzed and saw a text from Damon.

_Klaus in Alaric's body. Stay on campus until notified._

"Well, I know why Alaric's been ignoring you for the last week," I said showing Jenna the text. "Who's gonna tell them we're no longer on campus?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	10. Later Alligator

**And I have just finished this chapter - which I started after I posted the last chapter. I really wanted Ethel to meet Klaus and I couldn't help but write this chapter.**

**I'm sorry if no one likes it - I haven't heard anything in the last few chapters. Nothing good, nothing bad - Is anyone out there?**

**Not that I care, I'm actually writing this for myself anyway. I can't find the sort of story I want to read so I'll write it instead and pretend someone else wrote it as I read it.**

**Hope you enjoy and remember I am sorry about any mistakes.**

**Loves ya, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**Edited - 23/06/20**

* * *

**LATER ALLIGATOR**

* * *

I had to wonder why I was here.

Damon had made it clear that he didn't want me involved with this plan, especially when I told him I couldn't help Elena.

He was royally pissed when he found out Jenna was back and at home, allowing Klaus in Alaric's body to get to her. Fortunately, his plan was to reveal the supernatural world to her, which was ruined by her knowledge. She did do a good job in pretending she didn't know though and was great at being horrified by Stefan's vampire face.

She could make a good go at being an actress in the future.

After that, Damon had the two of us locked up in the boarding house, not able to leave with the threat that he'd knock us out. I was also sure he'd asked Charlie to cast some spell which prevented us from leaving unless absolutely needed.

"Tonight is the full moon," Elijah said and I forced myself to stare at him and not roll my eyes. What was it with everyone stating the obvious around here? As if reading my mind, Jenna pinched my arm in warning. You know she'd been acting a lot like my mother for the last few days. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."

"No shit," I grumbled, flinching at the glare the original sent me. He was a lot scarier than Damon, even when I knew I could use my magic on him.

"Elena said that the sun and the moon curse is fake," Stefan said, giving me a warning look as he questioned Elijah. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting, but if he breaks it ... he'll be a true hybrid." Did Elijah ever stop to think how dramatic he could be? Perhaps it was a vampire thing? All the suspense and drama gave them the shits and giggles they needed after being alive for hundreds of years.

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Hello father, dearest. It's nice of you to finally join us. Jenna nudged me as if once again she heard my thoughts. I was really gonna have to work on this bond between us if she could easily read me. "We can kill him today. With Bonnie."

"Damon." It seemed good old Steffy had enough of Damon's brooding.

"No, Bonnie can't use that much power without dying." At least Elena was trying to see sense. If they let me and Charlie help, then Bonnie wouldn't need to use as much power. I thought that was the plan considering Charlie had convinced me to help.

"I'll do it," I said, feeling myself getting annoyed when everyone ignored me.

"I'll write her a great eulogy." He was being a dick now. To me and to Bonnie.

"It's not an option, Damon," Elena said, giving him one of those stern pointed looks she thought worked. I wonder when someone was going to tell her she looked like an idiot when she did that?

"All right, how do we break this curse?" Stefan asked, trying to move on in the conversation.

"Look, guys, I respect you all, I do, but can we please stop ignoring the mage in the room!" I snapped, rising from my seat and standing beside Elijah. "I have more power than Bonnie even when she's channelling a hundred witches, as does Charlie. Why are you refusing our help?"

Jenna got up from her seat, giving me a look as she left the room, her phone in hand. I was wondering if she was talking to Charlie or mum. She was a little snitch.

"No! You're not getting involved!" Damon snapped looking at me as if I had grown two heads. Stefan looked away as I caught his eyes as if he agreed with Damon. Some uncle he was. Wasn't he supposed to give me what I wanted?

"I came here for a reason, dad!" I shouted, stepping closer to Elijah as Damon sped in front of me, a threatening look on his face. Elijah shifted slightly in front of me as if he was ready to protect me. "I told you I couldn't save Elena, I meant that but I've seen Klaus' plan, I've seen the future that awaits us and I know I can change it."

"Then how do we change it?" Elena asked and I knew she would do anything from seeing Jenna in the ritual next to her.

"You do your part and I'll do mine," Elijah said, taking a fancy looking box from the bookshelf. "I've mentioned that the doppelganger's blood is needed. I have not mentioned that your blood will need to be consumed to the point of death."

"And that's where you come in," Elena replied, nodding at the fancy box Elijah opened.

"This is an elixir that I acquired some five-hundred-years-ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So I'll be dead?"

"That's what resuscitation represents, Elena," I muttered rolling my eyes. I had seen her at school, but I wanted to know if she actually learnt anything while she was there.

"Knock it off," Damon warned, pushing me to sit down on the sofa.

"And then you won't," Elijah replied to Elena, a slight smirk on his face as he glanced at me.

"That's your plan?" Damon asked and I wanted to smack him over the head. Why was he never satisfied when someone gave him a solution? "A magical witch potion with no expiration date? You want to come back to life, what about John's ring?"

"Those rings only work on humans," Elijah pointed out, though I'm sure we all knew that anyway. "The doppelganger's a supernatural occurrence, odds are, the ring won't work."

"I'll take those odds over your elixir." Damon turned to face Elena, giving her that little pouty face he thinks will grant him all his wishes. "What if it doesn't work, Elena?"

"Then I guess I'll just be dead." I gave her the thumbs up at the positive attitude but at least she was accepting her possible fate.

"Why doesn't she use both?" I asked, shrugging as if it was simple logic. "You don't trust the elixir, so let her wear the ring too. If Elijah is right and the ring doesn't work, the elixir has a chance to." I turned to Damon and glared at him. "You believe the ring will work, even though you've been told that it won't, but you won't let us try the elixir? Which could also have the potential to save her? What is it you really want, Damon?"

Instead of answering me, he walked away causing the tension in the room to grow at the unanswered, but obvious answer.

"Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this?" Elena asked Elijah, moving on from the awkward tension I had created. "Does he have a werewolf?"

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight, he will."

"That's reassuring," I muttered, throwing myself onto the sofa, looking up at the ceiling as I pondered how we were going to get out of this. "I should go back in time and kill Klaus while he's still human."

"Can you do that?" Elijah asked, curious at the possibilities I had with my magic.

"No, but it would be nice," I said, giving him a smile as I looked at him. I rolled off the sofa, rubbing my stomach as it grumbled for food. "This mage is off to the kitchen to fill her belly."

It was in the kitchen I found Jenna making me a bacon sandwich. Well, I didn't know if it was for me, but as soon as she placed it on the plate, I picked it up and ate it.

"You're lucky it was for you," she muttered, grabbing her coffee and making her way on the opposite side of the island to me.

"You want to get into some trouble?" I asked, feeling mischievous due to my lockdown in the house. Jenna snorted as if she was prepared for something like this to happen.

"We've under strict orders to behave."

"What's life without breaking the rules, Jenna?" She gave me a smirk but shook her head no. Instead, she pulled out a familiar sketchbook, pointed at the page she had it opened on.

"Did you draw this when I was sleeping?"

I glanced down at the drawing of her, her face relaxed and her eyes closed. Did she really want to know about that picture?

"No, that's a drawing of you dead." Okay, it was a bit blunt, but she would appreciate the truth. "In my vision. After Klaus killed you, that's what you looked like." Jenna gulped as her eyes drifted over the drawing and her fingers traced over the paper, touching her face. "That's not gonna happen any more, Jenna, I promise you."

She placed her coffee on the island and gave a small nod of her head as she rose and left the kitchen.

I should have probably gone with the while asleep thing instead. At least that way I wouldn't have scared her.

"Get out!" That was Jenna. Who was she talking to? I got down off my chair and made my way towards her, curious to why she would sound scared.

"Jenna, Jenna!" Alaric. No, Klaus in Alaric. God, I couldn't wait until this was over. Things were too confusing.

I smirked when I came into the hallway and saw Jenn holding a crossbow at 'Alarkus' ready to fire if she needed to.

"Get out!"

"Jenna put the crossbow down okay, it's me." How were we supposed to believe him? That's exactly what Klaus would say.

"Stay away from me." Yeah! You stand up for yourself bitch!

"What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Elena, but do you always have to ask stupid questions?" I asked, rolling my eyes as I turned to face her. "Obviously Alarkus is here and we're not sure if it's Klaus or Alaric. Please don't be oblivious." I turned to Alarkus then, glaring at him as I stepped next to Jenna. "Who are you? Klaus or Alaric?"

"It's me, I'm me. Klaus let me go." Ric said as if we were all going to think his word was solid proof.

"Prove it." Thank you, Damon! Seemed as if he decided to join us again and prove that he wasn't as stupid and clueless as everyone else.

"Okay, uh, the first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walking in right when I was about to—"

"Okay! It's him." Jenna and Ric shared a look and it made me want to know what he was about to do.

"What was he going to—"

"Why did he let you go?" Stefan asked, cutting me off as Jenna smacked her hand over my mouth. Jesh, no one was fun anymore.

"He wanted me to deliver a message." He turned his gaze to Elena and I could already guess what was coming next. "The sacrifice happens tonight."

* * *

"So …" Jenna looked at me, an unimpressed look on her face as I lounged in the parlour, a glass of bourbon in my hand. "Are we going to talk about what happened?"

"No!"

"Come on, just give me one small detail," I begged, pushing myself off the sofa and handing the full glass of bourbon to her. "Just a smidge detail." I held my finger and thumb together with a little, teeny-tiny space.

"No." Jenna glanced upstairs where Elena and Stefan were getting ready to go on their walk after the dramatic events Damon had pulled twenty minutes ago. "You should go with Ric and talk to Damon."

"Ugh, I guess you're right." I grabbed my bag, slipping my phone into it as I pressed a kiss to her cheek and ran after Ric, who had just left the house after a distraught Damon. "Hey, Ricky! Wait for me, I'll help you sort out the desperate, sorry excuse of a vampire."

"You sure?" he asked, and I felt delighted at the concern he felt for me.

"I'll just zap him with some magic if he's a dick."

* * *

I didn't bother questioning Ric as we pulled up outside the Grill. It was quite clear where Damon was going to go. It was a testament to how well Ric knew my dad.

"You let me do all the talking," Ric said resting his hand on my shoulder as we made our way over to the bar and the dark-haired broody man that was sitting there drinking. "I'll have the same." Ric sat down to Damon's right and I stood behind them, ready to get in Damon's way if he decided to leave.

"I screwed up." I snorted at him, shooting Ric a look as he looked at me over his shoulder. I thought the point in us coming was to tell Damon he screwed up. Was I not allowed to agree with him when he admitted it?

"Yeah. Yeah, you did." What? So he was allowed to agree and I wasn't? The bastard.

"Gentlemen." I jumped at the voice feeling as if I had heard it before. Biting my bottom lip, I turned to face the man that stood to Damon's left. "Why so glum?"

It was him. The man from my dream. He looked almost like I had seen him in the dream world, but as he stood in front of me, he was more beautiful than what I had dreamt.

"Ugh. Klaus, I presume," Damon said, the disappointment rolling off him.

"In the flesh." Holy shit. My grandmother was right. She had seen me with Klaus. And I had a vision about him too. Jesus, how was he meant to die if I was with him in the future? "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" Damon asked, getting off his seat and stepping into Klaus' personal bubble.

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelganger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."

"Too late for that," I snorted, covering my mouth as Klaus' eyes fell on me.

"Thanks for your advice," Damon said, stepping over slightly to hide me from Klaus' view. Oh, he still cared about me. I thought all his attention was stuck on Elena. "I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"

Jesus Christ. He really was trying to get himself killed.

"You are kidding? He is kidding, right?" I bet it was easy for Klaus to lure victims to him. His voice was so alluring, I bet he had women lining up to donate their blood and lives to him.

"No, not really." Alaric sounded like he wished Damon wasn't his best friend. You can join the boat, Ric, we all wished that.

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?" I stepped closer to Damon, resting my hand on his shoulder in warning. All he was doing was pissing the man off.

"Damon, stop," I warned, stepping between him and Klaus as the Original stepped closer.

"Let me be clear." His eyes flicked down to me before looking back at Damon, a smug look on his face. "I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up."

"Yeah, right," I muttered under my breath, feeling Damon squeeze my side in warning as Klaus directed his gaze back on me. With one last warning look, Klaus walked away and Damon and Ric sighed out in relief. Me, well, I was too busy watching Klaus walk away. It was nice watching him walk away. I mean, look at that butt.

"That was fun."

"You're gonna screw it up, aren't you?" Ric asked but we both knew Damon gonna do exactly that.

"Right, I don't want to hear any more. I'm gonna go find Charlie and help him find a spell that can help Bonnie," I told them both, leaving them at the bar as I walked out of the Grill, looking around for my car, only to remember that it wasn't here. "Shit!" How did I forget that Ric drove us here?

"Hello love." I froze at his voice. He said the same words he said in my dream. I bit my lip as I turned to face him, forgetting the phone in my hand.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you," I muttered, stepping away from him as he loomed over me. Why was it that the evil guys were almost always attractive? If you took Voldemort out of the equation and replaced him with Tom Riddle at Hogwarts, then that was a great example.

"Because I'm a stranger?" Did he really believe in stranger danger?

"No, because you're the murderous lunatic trying to kill my friend. Out of loyalty, I'm supposed to not speak to you and call you a bastard," I snapped, smiling as he tried to take a step towards me. I want to highlight the word tried, because he couldn't move.

"A witch?" he hissed, his annoyance clear as my smirk grew. Too right you evil bastard.

"I'll leave you to think about this," I said, stepping away and giving him a little wave. "See you later alligator."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Ethel has met the Big Bad Wolf. What do you think?**


	11. Full Moon Rises

**And the big ritual is here.**

**I'm warning you know - there a changes to the ritual. I do hope you'll like them and I have tried to keep everyone in character. Please tell me if you think I haven't. I'd like to listen and hear your feedback.**

**As usual, sorry for any mistakes. Please enjoy. Stay safe.**

**Loves you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**FULL MOON RISES**

* * *

"That's defo not Elena," I told Jenna in a whisper, as she put her phone on loudspeaker as Katherine begged her to come and help.

"I'll be right there!" Jenna said, sharing a look with me as she hung up and shrugged. "What do we do?"

"Not leave the house? I don't really know, Jenna, I don't want to piss Klaus off."

"I think you already did that, sweetheart," Elijah said, leaning against the door as he obviously overheard me talking to Jenna. "I'm surprised he didn't know you were a witch."

"It's not really public news," I said, looking over to the front door as I sensed Klaus outside. "Your brother's here. Don't worry, he can't hear us, I cast a little spell."

"What do I do?" Jenna asked, glancing between the door and Elijah, hoping the Original had an plan.

"Let me deal with him," I said, walking to the door and opening it, making sure I stayed inside. "Hello darling," I taunted, seeing his annoyance grow on his face as he was met with me instead of Jenna. "Sorry, not the person you wanted?"

"Hello, Little Witch," he greeted, his eyes falling on something behind me. "Jenna, lovely to see you again. Would you mind stepping outside?"

"Yeah, see, that's not gonna happen, you dick." I glanced over at Jenna, warning her to leave. "Jenna's not gonna be your vampire so why don't you scurry along now."

"You knew what I had planned?"

"Witch, remember? I had a little vision, thought I'd get in your way," I told him, rolling my eyes as he took a threatening step closer. "You don't want to mess with me, Klaus."

"Well, Little Witch, why don't you come outside and we'll find out how powerful you are." His voice itself could be a compulsion. Man, I needed to train myself to ignore the allure he had. Maybe that alone was a vampire trait.

"I'm not falling for your traps, you mutt. I think you need to try a bit harder."

Klaus smirked, his eyes flicking to the side and I followed his gaze to see Luke, a blank look on his face as he held Charlie in his arms.

"Charlie," I whispered, wanting to step out to get to my cousin. "What have you done to him?"

"Oh, nothing too drastic. My witch knocked him out and your dear friend, Luke, is compelled." He had played me the whole time. He didn't want Jenna, he wanted me. "Now, Little Witch, why don't you come with me and your cousin will be left alone."

"How can I trust you?" I asked not taking my eyes off Charlie.

As if answering me, Luke brought Charlie over, placing him within the boundaries of the boarding house, before stepping back and waiting at Klaus' side.

"There's your answer, love. Now, come to me." I lifted my eyes away from Charlie and looked into Klaus' blue orbs, trying to fight the annoyance that was growing inside me. I'd fallen right into his trap.

"Don't," Jenna said, her hand grabbing my arm as I took a step out the door. "Don't do this, Ethel."

"I'm doing this for you," I told her, blinking away my tears as I saw that she was crying. I glanced down at Charlie and sobbed. "I'm doing this for him."

"I can't let you go out there," she cried, gripping my arm tighter.

"I'm sorry, Jenna," I said, raising my hand and touching her head, biting my lip as she crumpled to the floor, knocked out like Charlie. _Elijah, remember the plan._ I had hope that Elijah would get my message, our minds were linked and I'd gotten a message to him before. "Tell my dad I'm sorry."

* * *

Klaus' plan wasn't as drastic as I thought. He had his witch, the female one cast a spell on me to bind my magic. They thought it worked, but I had been prepared for that and just went along with it.

If he felt it important to bind my magic, then he must have known I was powerful enough to stop him.

Due to it being the afternoon and way too early to start the ritual, he'd brought me to Alaric's apartment, where I was surprised to see Katherine. I don't know why I was surprised, Ric had mentioned her being there.

"What's she doing here," Katherine asked, and I was mildly surprised and touched to see her concern.

"Just a precaution, love. Don't need her interfering tonight."

"He took my powers," I told her, giving her an intense look as I mentioned the word took. It seemed she got it and frowned at me wondering why I was pretending.

"Katerina, keep an eye on my Little Witch," Klaus said, resting his hand on my back as he pushed me towards her. "I'll be back later."

He was gone, leaving me with the vampire doppelganger.

"That's fantastic," I muttered, turning to glance at her as she stared at me in confusion. "Are you hungry?" It was all part of the plan.

"Are you offering your blood?" she taunted, crossing her arms as she looked me over. I was happy I was wearing my jeans today ready for waltzing around the woods to destroy Klaus. I shrugged and held out my arm to her.

"If you need it," I said, tugging my sleeve up and offering my wrist. She seemed to hesitate, unsure whether it was a trick. "The offer ends in five seconds, Katerina."

She slowly took my wrist in her hands, giving me another uncertain look as she placed her lips against my pulse and let her fangs pierce my skin. I flinched at the feel, but didn't pull away as she took a few dregs. I didn't have to use my magic to get her to stop as she pulled away after a few seconds.

"Thank you," she muttered, wiping her mouth still looking at me in confusion.

"I need you at your best. I've got a feeling you'll come in handy," I explained, looking around the apartment, trying to find something that would catch my eyes. For some strange reason, my eyes landed on a board game and I wandered over, taking the box in my hands. "You wanna play?"

* * *

Nearly five hours I'd been locked up with Katherine and I was going to have to admit that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Klaus had been awol since he brought me here and Katherine and I had been playing 'The Game of Life' non-stop since I found the game.

Currently, in this life, she was a mum of three and had been divorced and recently fired from her job. I had taken the education root and was being promoted again and was just recently married.

"Where's Maddox?" Klaus asked, barging into the room, not bothering to spare us a glance. "He should be back by now." I looked to Katerine, unsure of how to deal with this.

"I don't know," she replied, turning in her chair to look in his direction, but keeping her eyes from him.

Klaus sat at the coffee table, connecting his phone to the laptop, looking at some sort of video feed. I leaned on the table, trying to get a closer look without moving and drawing attention to myself.

"What are you doing?" Katherine asked, finding herself interested. I got the feeling she liked to stay in the loop at all times. "Where's Elena."

Yes, that was right. Klaus had left to go get Elena. Didn't understand why it took him five hours to do that.

"I sent her off with Greta." Ah, the witch he'd gotten to take my magic. Yeah, I didn't like her. Perhaps it was because her dad had stabbed me and I died.

There was groaning coming from the laptop and I scrunched up my nose in disgust as he looked at the screen intently.

"Is that porn?" I asked, the disgust clear in my voice. Katherine looked at me over her shoulder and I could see the warning in her eyes.

"It's almost time," Klaus said, ignoring my subtle attempts to ruin his night even more.

The door slammed open and I felt a familiar tug in my head as my eyes settled on Damon as he stood behind Klaus and in front of Katherine.

"I wasn't aware you'd been invited in," Klaus said, not bothering to turn his head to look at the new arrival. Katherine rose from the table, grabbing my hand and pulling me to her side, unsure what was about to happen.

"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual," Damon said. I could tell that he didn't know I was here yet or he wouldn't be acting like a fool.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch." Ah, so that's where Maddox was. Dead in a ditch.

Klaus rose and spun to face Damon, his anger evident in his clenched jaw and the fire burning in his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"And you can kill me for it. I don't care."

"I care!" I snapped, trying to tug myself out of Katherine's grip when I realised that Damon had come here on a suicide mission. Damon turned his back to Klaus as he looked at me, struggling in Katherine's grasp.

"What are you doing here?" He turned back to Klaus, his anger almost equal to the Originals. "What is she doing here?"

"Katerina, give us a moment," Klaus said and Katherine reluctantly released me as she slowly left, walking into the bedroom. "Come here, love." This time when he spoke to me, he was wearing that infuriating smirk on his face. He was using me against Damon just as he had used Charlie and Jenna against me.

I didn't hesitate as I walked to Klaus' side, giving Damon an apologetic look as I shuffled closer to Klaus, ignoring the way the potential hybrid rested his hand on my back.

"What are you doing here? Why is she here?"

"I've heard about you," Klaus said, ignoring Damon as he worried about me. "The crazy, impulsive vampire. In love with his brother's girl." Klaus gave him that smirk again and took my hand in his, pulling me away as he walked away from Damon. "I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was just a fifty-fifty guess on who."

He pushed me into the chair in front of the coffee table, making sure Damon could see the laptop as he pressed a button and the video played, showing a woman screaming in pain.

I leaned closer as I recognised the woman, squinting as Jules' voice and face screamed in horror.

"The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs." He flipped the lid down on the laptop and picked up the phone. "Need a closer look?" he asked, throwing the phone to Damon.

"Jules," Damon said, his lips turning up at the sides as he watched her struggle in pain. He had never forgotten what she'd done to me and was no doubt happy about her situation.

"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse … you learn a thing or two." I wasn't liking where this was going. It felt odd like I was missing something. Like something big was about to happen - not including the full moon and the breaking of the hybrid curse. "First rule, always have a back-up. Back-up werewolf. Back-up witch."

"Back-up vampire," Damon finished and I could see that he felt foolish coming here. Surely he must have known that Klaus would have everything planned out? As the man said, he'd been waiting a thousand years to break this curse.

"I've got that cover too." And he snapped his neck.

"Damon!" I cried, rising from my seat and taking a step towards the 'dead' vampire.

"Ah, ah, ah, love, you're coming with me," Klaus said, grabbing my shoulder to stop me from tending to Damon. "He's as good as dead anyway."

"What? What does that mean?" I asked, frustrated when Klaus ignored me.

With a longing look at Damon, I let Klaus drag me from the apartment and towards wherever it was we were going to break this curse.

* * *

I lost time between leaving Alaric's apartment and turning up at the ritual site.

It was all very dramatic.

One second Klaus was dragging me away from Damon's body and the next he was dragging me down a rocky path lit by fires.

"My duty is to Klaus," the witch who took my powers said as Klaus brought us closer to them. "The new order." God, she was so in love with him.

It was sickening.

"Glad to know I still have a dance partner," Klaus said, notifying them of our arrival. Greta looked at me, a sneer on her face as her eyes rested on my hand wrapped in Klaus'. "Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?"

"Umm, no, I'd say we're not," I grumbled, locking eyes with Elena, hoping she'd get that Jenna was safe.

"I wasn't talking to you, love," he said, pulling me closer to him so my back was against his chest. His hand came up and held my chin, forcing me to look at the rings of fire, or more specifically the ring that held the vampire.

"Luke," I cried, struggling to get out of Klaus' embrace. "Why's he here?"

"Well, after you manipulated my plans, I thought I'd change them. Call it poetic, love, but I thought you'd prefer your cousin's boyfriend to dear Jenna." He was a smug bastard. He had this all planned out since taking me. It was probably why he took me to rub it in my face.

"But Luke? He's never done anything to you."

"But you did, love."

"You're an arsehole!" I spat, fighting to get out of his arms as my vision swam with tears. I may not have liked Luke much, but he was still family. "Please," I begged, hoping he'd let him go.

"It's too late for that, love." Klaus turned me to face him, his fingers brushing against my neck before he bent down and bit me, causing me to drop to the floor. "Can't have you interfering again."

I locked eyes with Elena as Klaus sped off with Greta and I tried to tell her everything was going to be alright. I was lying to her, of course. We both knew she was going to die, but hopefully, with enough magic, she'd come back again, without being a vampire.

I let my eyes drift to Luke, who was no longer under Klaus' compulsion but had definitely turned off his emotions. Or, at least I think he had. He was so calm, standing there, his eyes moving between Elena, Jules, Klaus and I.

"I'm so sorry, Luke," I whispered, flinching back as his cold eyes locked with mine. "I never meant for this to happen." I was ruining Charlie's life because of this. I was allowing his heart to be ripped out too.

"Everything I did," Jules said, fighting through the pain to get her words out. "I was just trying to help Tyler."

"Are you Jules?"

My god. Even in the face of death, Elena was still as thick as it got. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots.

"I didn't want him to be alone." The bitch may have tortured me, but watching her curl in on herself in pain, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I wouldn't wish this on my enemy - though if that enemy was Klaus, then perhaps I would wish it upon him. It looked painful.

"Shall we?" Klaus asked, stepping closer to Jules. As he got closer, the ring of fire disappeared and I pushed myself to sit up to get a better look.

Jules' wolf was unleashed and she charged at Klaus, aiming to rip off his head. He was stronger and overthrew her, ripping her heart from her chest.

And he looked smug about it.

The bastard was actually enjoying this.

I pressed my hand to my neck as the blood flowed down, staining my shirt and I turned to Luke, feeling the shock as I realised this was going to happen to him.

"I'm so sorry." I couldn't stop this. Not without Charlie here and I couldn't feel him yet. It also didn't fit with the plan. I had to wait for Elijah and Bonnie.

I turned to face Klaus and Greta as they worked on breaking the curse and felt my eyes water as I tried to fight off the tears.

He was getting what he wanted.

I flinched away as Klaus turned to me, his eyes smiling as he stepped down from the altar and made his way towards Luke. The torment and malice in his eyes was enough to give me strength. Ii I could just prevent him from hurting Luke for a little longer, then Charlie and Bonnie would be here to help me.

"Don't do this," I begged, stumbling to my feet, placing myself in front of Luke, capturing Klaus' attention. I was annoying him and I knew if I wasn't a witch he would kill me.

"It's getting a little old, love. You think you can stop me?" He spread his arms as if waiting for me to challenge him. I would if I wanted to risk using my magic.

"Find someone else, please. I'm begging you."

"It's too late for that," he said, taking my face in his hands as he gazed down at me. I was actually positive he was going to kill me. No one could look that happy with blood coating their hands unless they were about to kill again.

"Let her go," Elena ordered, the tone of her voice strong as she demanded Klaus' attention. I was surprised she was sticking up for me. I was under the impression she didn't like me. "She doesn't have to die. Please, I followed your rules, I did everything you asked. I didn't run. Please."

If this worked, I was going to have to be kinder to her. No more bitching about her in my head.

Klaus looked down at me, his eyes flickering over my face before looking over my head to Elena, a small smirk plastered on his face as he thought about it. I guess this is what power was. Having people beg you to save their loved ones. To decide who got to live or die.

"Well, well. I don't recall you being on the guest list." Klaus turned his head and looked up and with a bit of a struggle, I followed his gaze. I felt sickened at the sight of Stefan. Not because he was doing anything wrong - well he was. He was going to sacrifice himself.

Stefan said something, I didn't know what, but Klaus thought about it for a second, his fingers flexing on my face before he gave a small scoff.

"Very well, then." My stomach lurched as Klaus vamp sped us to the overlook where Stefan waited. He turned me in his arms until my back pressed against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me, preventing me from moving. "What can I do for you, Mr Salvatore?"

Stefan dropped his eyes to me letting them linger on the bite mark on my neck before looking down at Elena.

What was he here?

Pressing my mind against his, I caught a glimpse of him promising Damon he'd get me back.

"No, don't," I started, being cut off by Klaus' hand wrapping around my throat.

"You don't need Ethel," Stefan said, his body moving as if he wanted to rip me from Klaus' arms. "I'll take her place."

"Oh, I don't know." Klaus removed his hand from my neck and let it hover down my collar bone, resting lightly over my chest. "She's interfered enough, I thought I'd keep her."

"Don't play games with me," Stefan replied, his jaw twitching as he watched Klaus' hand roam down my chest.

You know, I didn't take him for a perv. I knew he was doing this to Stefan, showing him he had the power, but, dude, it was my body.

"You're quite the hero, aren't you?" Klaus pressed his nose against my neck, his tongue dipping out and brushing against the bit mark. I could barely contain my shiver of disgust. "I've heard that about you."

"Just make the trade." Stefan locked his eyes with mine and I felt my heart break at the desperation behind them. He was doing this for Damon. Even though Damon had been a dick this morning and ruined Elena's perfect little life and stabbed Stefan, he was still willing to give his life for his brother. "Me for Ethel."

Klaus gave a slight nod but didn't release his hold on me. Instead, he gestured for Stefan to follow him down to the ritual sight and vamp sped us down there.

"Quite the predicament," Klaus said to Elena, tugging me forward as he gestured to Stefan. "You know, it's funny, all this talk about saving a witch, following rules and here's Stefan." I was getting fed up with being drugged around like a ragdoll. "Granting your wish."

"Stefan." Elena was devastated and I knew she'd rather it was me that died than him.

"It's okay." He'd accepted what he'd come here to do. Take my place so Damon wouldn't have to lose me.

"Well. Who's it going to be, Elena?" This was all a game to him. Making people choose who they wanted to die. I had a choice between saving Jenna or saving Luke and I had unknowingly saved Jenna over Luke. I probably would have still chosen Jenna, but if I had known, I could have saved Luke too.

"No!" Elena was determined not to fall into the same box as me.

"Oh don't worry. There's actually no choice." Klaus pushed me to the ground as he spun and shoved a stake through Stefan's back and snapped the wood in half, leaving a chunk buried within the vampire.

"Stefan!"

"I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive." Klaus gave her a look, one that said he outdid her. "But for now …" He had a thing with snapping necks tonight. Or perhaps he was making his rounds with the Salvatore's. I shuffled back as Klaus set his eyes on me, taking a few steps closer.

"Please," Elena begged, her tears drowning her voice as she watched Klaus stalk his way towards me.

"I've got plans for you, Little Witch."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Tell me what you think, please.**


	12. In The Name of Revenge

**The ritual is almost complete. Klaus is obviously going to make it out alive.**

**I wonder what's in store for Ethel?**

**As always, sorry for the mistakes. Please enjoy. Stay safe.**

**Loves you all, Comet96**

* * *

**IN THE NAME OF REVENGE**

* * *

"Whenever you're ready, Greta," Klaus said, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he pushed me to the ground, stalking towards Luke.

Greta begins chanting, the flames around Luke going out as Klaus moves in for the kill. I can see Elena struggling in her own ring of fire, knowing that her end is coming closer and closer.

"No, no, no," I whispered pushing myself up, as Luke looked at me, a small smile on his face. He hadn't flipped his switch, he was just trying to pretend everything was okay. He didn't want me feeling guilty because of his death.

"Your turn." Klaus taunts as he steps closer to the vampire, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"I know what I have to do," Luke said, his eyes begging me to forgive him. Why did I have to forgive him? Surely it should be the other way round? Wasn't he meant to forgive me?

Luke speeds over to Greta, biting into her neck, stopping her chanting as she screams out in pain. Klaus is there within seconds, ripping Luke from Greta, a stake being shoved into Luke's back. Luke falls to the floor, a grunt of pain escaping his blood-covered mouth and his eyes lock with mine, a regretful smile on his face. Elena is crying and I could feel my chest constricting as Klaus turned to Luke, bending down over his body and shoving the stake through his heart.

"Luke!" I cry, trying to push myself on my feet but feel as if I'm fighting a hundred hands holding me down. What was the witch doing to me? Why was she holding me back? "Luke!"

Even from where I'm hunched on the floor, I can see Luke's body dissecting, his skin turning grey as his soul leaves his body. Klaus walks away, his taunting smile still plastered on his face as Greta collects some of Luke's blood and goes back to the altar.

She starts chanting again, something in Latin as she pours Luke's blood in with the other ingredients, and I can hear the potion bubbling away.

"I'm so sorry." I turn my head to see Stefan talking to Elena, no doubt the two of them knowing what's about to happen. Since Jules and Luke were dead and the potion was almost ready, Elena would be dead soon too.

"Shh," Elena says to him, her eyes darting between Klaus and Stefan, her finger to her lips. "Are they going to kill him?" She asks Stefan the question but her eyes dart to me.

From what I understood, they were planning to kill him, but it could only be done when he was at his weakest, which was after he killed her.

"Yes." Stefan barely said the word and I didn't know if it was because he was in pain, or because he was afraid Klaus would overhear.

From the way Elena glanced to the Original, I could only guess it's because he was making his way towards her. His slow pace making us all shake with the tension.

"It's time," he said, a pout on his lips.

I really needed to stop focusing on his lips. I was beginning to become obsessed.

The fire went out around Elena, and like a switch, her face changed and she grew in her confidence and Klaus held out his hand. She rose, ignoring his hand and walked past him. The look of irritation on his face was worth it and I couldn't help the smug smile I shot his way as his eyes locked on me.

Stefan grunted in pain, trying to reach out to his girlfriend as she stepped up onto the altar, ready for her end.

I shuffled over to Stefan, glancing over to Klaus as he followed the doppelganger. Considering he was distracted, I thought it would be safe to help Stefan and I brushed my fingers over the broken stake, wondering if I could remove it.

"Thank you, Elena." Even with his soft-spoken words, I could hear Klaus from here. And that meant Stefan could too. I think it was obvious he did as he tried to push himself off the floor, grunting in pain as he could barely move.

"Stefan, Stefan, stop, please," I begged, resting my hand over his back, trying to shift the wood from its burial place. It didn't want to budge, or I didn't want to hurt him even more. I was hesitant about using my magic.

I turned my head to the altar as Stefan gave up, his eyes on Elena as Klaus sunk his teeth into her, taking the blood from her to finish the ritual.

I felt like I was intruding on their moment as they locked eyes, love and grief swimming in Elena's eyes as she glanced at Stefan. I could hear him stifling his cries, but I wasn't lucky enough to do the same. My throat was stinging as I bit back the tears that wanted to fall, blurring the edges of my vision as Klaus dropped Elena's body to the floor. She fell next to Luke.

"It's okay, Stefan," I whispered to him. We both knew she'd come back, and hopefully, it wasn't as a vampire. It must have still been hard to see the one you loved die when you couldn't do anything to stop it.

The flames on the altar went out and my eyes flashed to Klaus as he stood there as if he was unsure what was happening to him. He shuffled down from the altar as he made his way to the centre of the field.

"I can feel it." If he knew it worked, why did he sound so unsure? "It's happening."

He hunched over as a crack ripped through his body, the breaking of his bones alerting us to his transformation. So the curse had been broken. He was going to become a hybrid. As the triumphant grew in his eyes, he was flung across the clearing and I sighed in relief as Bonnie's chanting could be heard.

Greta turned to face Bonnie, disapproval on her face but it didn't last long as Damon snuck up behind her, breaking her neck. He spared a glance at Stefan before scoping Elena in his arms and brought her to Stefan.

Gritting my teeth, I clambered to my feet ready to assist Bonnie. As Klaus looked at her in horror, I touched my mind with hers, feeling Charlie's power there as we leant her our magic to help with the spell.

As Klaus rolled around on the floor, I closed my eyes and focused on his mind, ripping through his weak walls in his pain. I managed to slip into his mind and held into the part of him that prevented him from transforming. If I could hold on long enough for Bonnie to finish her spell then he'd stay weak.

The wind picked up as Bonnie came to her climax of the spell and as Elijah stepped towards Klaus, she let go. I loosened my hold on Klaus, pressing slightly to let him know I was still in his head as he faced his elder brother.

"Elijah?" It was almost as if he couldn't believe his family was betraying him.

"Hello, brother." Again, with the dramatics, Elijah. Was it necessary?

I felt Stefan brush my hand with his fingers as he came to my side, joined by Bonnie. It felt nice having them with me, it was like we were a family.

I flinched as Elijah shoved his hand into Klaus' chest, the pain the hybrid felt vibrating through my mind. I sometimes forgot what it was like to be linked when someone was in pain.

"In the name of our family, Niklaus …"

"I didn't bury them at sea!"

"What?" From the way Elijah's smile dropped and he stared at his brother in disbelief, I knew he wouldn't be able to kill Klaus.

"Their bodies are safe." They shared a look, one that stated Elijah didn't believe him. "If you kill me, you'll never find them."

"Elijah," Stefan said as if coming to the same realization as me. "Don't listen to him."

"Elijah. I can take you to them. I gave you my word … brother."

"Do it and I'll take you both out," Bonnie said, also coming to see that Elijah wasn't going to kill Klaus.

"You'll die."

"Then I'll do it," I said, putting more pressure to the hold I had on Klaus' mind, smirking when he grunted out. Elijah locked eyes with me and I could see his mind was made up.

"I'm sorry," he said, speeding away with Klaus.

"No!" Bonnie and Stefan shouted, lunging towards him but both were too late. I took a step back as I tried to remove my mind with Klaus but found that I couldn't. What was going on? Why couldn't I unlink myself from him?

"Charlie?" I whispered, grabbing hold of Stefan as Klaus' pain ran through me. He was going through his transition. I could feel his magic touching at the corners of my mind, preventing me from pulling away from Klaus. "What are you doing?"

"You got Luke killed," he said from behind and I turned to find him cradling Luke in his arms, tears streaming down his face. "I'm gonna make you hurt." He promised, frowning as he focused on me. The strength between Klaus' mind and mine grew stronger and I choked on the pain as I dropped to my knees, overcome with his transformation.

It was like every bone in my body was breaking. Like I was going through his transformation beside him. My insides felt like they were being stretched and were burning me from the inside out.

"Ethel?" Bonnie asked, dropping to her knees as she held me up. "Charlie! Stop it!"

"She deserves this, Bonnie!" he shouted, waving his hand and disappearing with Luke, leaving me to wither in pain.

"Bonnie, please," I begged, feeling Stefan's arms wrap around me from behind as I cried out, clutching at my heart. "Please."

"I don't know what to do," she cried, looking at Stefan over my head. Bonnie was looking distraught, her eyes flashing as she looked around as if it would give her the answer. "I'll try," she said, resting her hands on either side of my head, chanting as the pain became a dull throbbing and I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I woke a few times throughout the night as Klaus finished his transformation and went roaming in his wolf form.

I was catching glimpses of his wanderings, feeling his emotions as he let the wolf take over. It was vicious and I was disgusted by every kill he committed. I felt like I was the one doing the killings. I had the taste of blood on my tongue when I woke and couldn't help the bile that flew through my mouth.

"Hey," Caroline said, her hand resting on my back as she shoved a bucket under my mouth just in time to catch my sick. "Jenna!" She shouted for the other woman, who was no doubt somewhere close by. "You've been in and out of it all night."

"What happened?" I asked, noting the huskiness of my voice.

"Bonnie said Charlie prevented you from pulling out of Klaus' head." I nodded, remembering that. I couldn't remove myself from the bond I made. I could still feel him, even now, but I didn't want to tell Caroline that.

"You're awake," Jenna said, a smile on her face as she took my face in her hands, tears shining in her eyes. "You had me worried."

"You've had everyone scared," Caroline said, brushing my red hair from my face as it stuck to my sweaty forehead. "Jenna called me when they brought you back here." I noted I was in my room at the boarding house. "Elena's okay, she's awake. John took her place." I nodded understanding that something like that could have been an option. I was somewhat happy that Bonnie was able to do the spell. It meant Elena could return without becoming a vampire.

"Where's dad?" I asked, feeling lost that he wasn't here. As a child, he was almost always at my bedside when I was sick. Jenna and Caroline shared a look, something they didn't want me to see. "Where is he?"

"He's still with Elena and Stefan." The way Jenna said it made me feel empty. She said still. Did that mean he'd been with her all night until she woke? No, Caroline said she was awake. Had he even left her side to come and see me?

"Has he been to see me?" I knew he hadn't from the way they both looked away. I clenched my teeth as I fought my tears. I wasn't going to keep crying over everything. I felt like I'd shed more tears in the last couple of days than I had in my entire life.

"If you're feeling up for it, we're holding a funeral for John," Jenna said, giving me a sad smile as she looked around the room.

"How's Charlie?" I asked, wondering if my cousin had returned to the boarding house.

"We haven't seen him," Jenna replied, her hand taking mine as she gave it a soft squeeze. "Not since he trapped you in Klaus' mind and left with Luke."

"He'll come back." Even to me, it sounded useless. Charlie was angry with me. He used his magic against me, something we had promised never to do. "I won't let him go through this alone."

"Let's not think about it for now," Jenna said, clearly uncomfortable with me helping Charlie after the pain he'd caused. "We've got to get ready for the funeral."

* * *

We stood around the graveyard, paying our respects to John Gilbert, who had sacrificed himself in replace of Elena.

Jenna was clinging onto my arm, afraid I'd collapse after the pain I'd been in last night. On my other side stood Alaric, his hand resting on my back as if he too was scared I'd pass out.

Jeremy stood slightly to the right of Ric, his jaw clenched as he watched Elena leave a rose on John's grave. It seemed, Jeremy didn't approve of his uncle dying, but he would have rather have Elena alive. It was bittersweet, to choose your family and be happy that one lived while the other died.

Watching Elena, I worried about Charlie. No one had seen him since he disappeared last night. Damon was pissed that he'd locked me in Klaus' mind, but he was grieving. I didn't blame him. I would have done the same thing. What was my pain compared to his broken heart?

It must have been hard for Elena to lose John. He was her dad after all, even if he was a dick. And so lost Isobel, not too long ago. To be left in the world by a set of parents that didn't want you and then gave up their lives for you must have sucked.

I could only be thankful that Jenna wasn't being buried too.

Though, in the place of her death, I had Charlie's hate.

As if reading my thoughts, Stefan came to me, resting his hand on my shoulder as he nodded over to Damon. I reached out for his hand, steadying myself as I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder as we made our way to Damon.

"We're gonna head back to the house," Stefan said to Damon, the older brother not turning around to face us.

"I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes," Damon muttered and I felt that there was something off about him. He'd been like that since I woke this morning, feeling like shit because of my connection to Klaus.

"Damon, she needs us right now," Stefan replied, ignoring Damon's attempt at a joke. We both knew Damon wasn't the kind to grieve. "All of us."

"And then what's the plan, Stefan?" Damon had a point. What were we meant to do know? "The curse is broken. How does one go about killing an all-powerful wolf-vamp and his two-faced older brother?" When I got my hands on Elijah, I would show him exactly how much of dick he had been last night.

 _I'll make it hurt, Elijah_. I promised, pushing the thought into his mind as I easily connected with him. He must have been near the area. I wasn't that good at mind-links unless I had a strong bond with said person, like Damon or my mum.

"I have no idea." Stefan was brave to admit it. Did he feel like he was to blame because he couldn't stop Elijah?

I know Bonnie wanted to blame herself. She had the power of a hundred witches within her and the joint magic of Charlie and I. Though, to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if Charlie had blocked her magic to get his revenge on me.

"We need to get an idea, fast." His eyes rested on me as I leaned on Stefan for support. "One that doesn't involve you delving into his mind again."

"I'm not going to let Elena lose anybody else." It was alright for him to go and make those promises, but Stefan didn't seem to understand the danger we were all in. Did he think Klaus was going to leave if he found out Elena was still alive?

"I wouldn't make any promises, brother." I frowned as Damon started tugging his sleeve.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stefan followed Damon's movements too, confusion washing his face as he waited for his brother to reply.

"Tyler Lockwood bit me." I felt the horror and panic set in, my eyes watering again as I eyed the bite mark on his skin. "It's actually more of a nip, really, but there it is."

"This isn't the time to make jokes," I cried, covering my mouth as I took a step towards him. Stefan was already there, his hands holding Damon's arm as he inspected the wound.

"We'll find something." Stefan was a good actor. I'm not saying he wasn't upset about this, I was just saying he hated Damon yesterday for taking away Elena's choice and now he was devastated at the thought of losing his brother. Vampires were complicated. "A cure."

I scoffed at the idea of a cure. Hadn't their friend Rose died of the same thing? I heard it got painful towards the end.

"There's no cure, Stefan." Damon had accepted this. He'd had the time to deal with the consequence of his death. How long had he known? Wait …

"That's what Klaus meant," I whispered, feeling their eyes on me as I glared at the wolf bite. "He knew you'd been bitten."

Damon rolled his eyes before glancing over his shoulder at Elena, Stefan following his gaze, his heart-shattering at the thought of the girl losing someone else.

"We kept Elena human, right? We found the way when there was no way."

"I love your positivity, Stefan, but that was using magic. A life for a life. This is different, this is magic! Powerful magic," I said gesturing my hand towards Damon as I felt myself grow angry. He could have told me last night but he was too busy focusing on Elena and her problems.

Didn't I mean anything to him?

"Hey. I will do this." Once again, it was time to ignore the all-powerful mage that knew when answers for things like this weren't going to pop up from around the corner.

"You want to do something for me? Keep this from Elena." Once again, his thoughts were on the doppelganger. I knew he loved her but was she the only thing he thought about. Hello, I was his daughter and he hadn't spared me a look since I found out he was dying. "The last thing she needs is another grave to mourn."

"Well, then, I guess it's fine for me to mourn then, dad!" I snapped, glaring at him as I walked away. I marched over to Jenna, wiping furiously at the tears as they streamed down my face.

"Effie? Are you okay?" she asked, taking me into her arms as I cried on her shoulder.

"Ethel?" Caroline was by my side, her hands resting on my shoulders as she and Jenna escorted me out of the graveyard.

"I'm okay," I whispered, keeping Damon's request and not telling anyone about his upcoming death. "I'm just tired."

"Let's get you back to the boarding house," Jenna said, tugging me towards her car,

"No." I shook my head at the thought of going back there. I couldn't be around Damon and I knew he said he wasn't going back, but there was too much of him there. "Take me to the cottage. Caroline, come with me?" I asked, needing my best friend with me. If I couldn't have Charlie, I wanted Caroline.

"Of course," she muttered, taking my hand in hers as she helped me into Jenna's car, pulling me into her arms as we settled in the back.

* * *

It was quiet in the cottage. I had hoped that Charlie was here waiting for me, but it really seemed my cousin had left to mourn his love.

I left Caroline and Jenna in the kitchen talking to Jeremy who had decided to come with us. They were talking about Damon. I had told them, not wanting to keep any more secrets. Why should I? It only got us into trouble and it wasn't worth it. They all cared about Damon, even Jenna cared, and no one wanted to see him die. They were trying to figure out how we could save them and I couldn't handle listening any more and wandered off.

I found myself in the sunroom. I hadn't noticed it before, but mum had set it up so half of the sunroom was my art studio, while the other half had a seating area to relax.

I walked up to an easel, my hand brushing over the empty canvas as I closed my eyes. I wasn't going to let Damon die. I could help him, I just needed to find a cure before Stefan. Not that I wanted to outdo Stefan by finding a cure first, I just knew the sort of trouble Stefan would get himself into trying to save Damon. If I could prevent that … it would be best if we didn't lose them both.

"Please," I begged, hoping my ancestors could hear me. "Please help me. I've never asked anything of you. Please give me this one thing and I'll do anything you ask. I'll go back to my grandmother. I'll focus on my magic, I'll do anything if you just help me save my dad."

I cried, dropping to the floor as I felt Caroline and Jenna join me in the sunroom. What was the point of having this connection with my ancestors if they weren't going to help me? I knew they would know of a cure, they were old enough to know, they were on this earth practising the magic before vampires walked the night. If anyone knew, it would be them.

"Please!" I screamed, clenching my hands over my chest as I leaned over my legs, blubbering as they continued to ignore me.

"Ehtel, don't do this to yourself," Jenna begged, her voice hoarse with her sadness. I knew it hurt her more seeing me in pain, but what was I supposed to do?

As Caroline's hand settled on my shoulder, I rose and moved towards the canvas, a pencil in my hand. I started vaguely at the canvas as my hand moved, and I knew that whatever was being drawn was the answer to the cure.

Stepping back, I took in the drawing, looking over the curled hair, the sharp, piercing eyes, the defined cheekbones, and the plush lips that formed in his famous, infuriating smirk.

"Klaus."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Leave a comment if you wish xx**


	13. A Deal With The Devil

**So ... I know a lot of you were wondering how Ethel was going to get the cure from Klaus and you will see what I've come up with in this chapter. I'm confident it will work, but I'm not sure how some of you are going to take it. Trust me, it's all going to make sense in the future and it may seem a little cliche, but please stick with me.**

**I'd love to hear what you all think about this chapter.**

**As usual, sorry for the mistakes, please enjoy and stay safe xx**

**Loves you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL**

* * *

"This isn't what I meant when I said I needed to prepare," I said to Caroline as she lay next to me.

"We deserve this, we've been stressed," she replied, lifting the cucumber slice from her right eye as she turned to me. She didn't look impressed to see that I already had my cucumber slices off my eyes.

"I need to speak to Klaus."

"You've already told me he's still roaming in his wolf form, it can wait until tomorrow." She pushed my head back on the pillow and touched my face gently to see if the face mask was dried. "I'll give it five more minutes and then you can wash it off."

"Do you think we'll get the cure?" I asked, letting myself relax as I thought about the hybrid and the possibility of getting the cure from him.

"I'm not sure." She sounded hesitant as if she didn't want to say something. "I don't think you should go to him." There it was.

"Why not?"

"Stefan mentioned that he called you his Little Witch. I'm not too keen on the idea of him having a pet name for you. He sounds obsessive and we know he is. He spent a thousand years obsessed over breaking his curse, I don't want him obsessing over you too."

"I'm touched, Care, but you know I have to do this. Damon's my dad and if I can save him by going to Klaus, then I will."

"But at what cost?" she asked, leaning over me, the cucumber sliding from her face. She looked worried, even through the green face mask covering her face. "What if we lose you?"

"Then I'll be willing to die for Damon."

"I don't want you to die." Her voice breaking as if she was about to cry had my stomach turning as I choked on a sob.

"I don't want Damon to die, Caroline."

"You're not making this fair," she cried, unashamed that her tears were running into her face mask.

"He's my dad."

"He's also lived for over a hundred and fifty years. You haven't had the time to live, I don't think anyone's going to blame you for wanting to stay alive," she said. I knew she didn't mean her words. We had all experienced enough death to last us a lifetime. She didn't want Damon dead and she didn't want me dead. She was just afraid me going to Klaus was going to end up with someone dying.

"What do you expect me to do, Caroline?"

She was putting me in a hard place. Even after I felt abandoned by him, I was still willing to give my life in place of his.

"I'm just hoping you come back to us." She waved her hands in front of her face, trying to stop her tears from ruining her face mask. She wasn't being dramatic, as a baby vampire she was still getting used to all these emotions and I don't suspect she's had to deal with a suicidal best friend in a while.

"You know I'll try my hardest." I took her hand in mine and gave it a soft squeeze. "Always," I added, smirking as she huffed in annoyance and pushed me off the bed.

"Don't go quoting that Harry Potter shit on me, Effie. We were having a moment!"

"Get over it, Caroline, I was trying to lighten the mood. You need to stop worrying."

"Have you told Jenna what you plan to do?" I froze on my way to the bathroom, unsure why she would bring up Jenna.

"She's not my mum, Caroline."

"Yeah, but she's as good as your sister! How do you think she'll feel about you going on a suicide mission?"

"Look, I don't know how to explain it, but we don't make mind-links or bonds with people unless they're important to us. I know Klaus won't hurt me because he wants something from me," I explained leaning against the doorframe, trying to calm my vampire friend.

"He tried to kill you!"

"I don't think he was going to do it, Care. He had so many chances to do it and he didn't lay a finger on me."

"He bit you!"

Alright, she was starting to point out some obvious facts. Ones that were true and proving me to be in the wrong.

"Yeah, but he didn't drink my blood or at least a lot of it. He did it to prevent me from stopping him. He knew Greta didn't take my powers, he was trying to force me to use them, to prove him right." I waved my hand in the air, scrunching my nose up through the hardened face mask. "He was playing a game, Caroline. He likes to win."

"So what are you gonna do about it?" she asked, crossing her arms as she made her way towards me.

"I'm gonna let him think he's won."

* * *

I hesitated outside the door, unsure whether I wanted to commit to this. I had been so sure when speaking to Caroline earlier, but now, as I stood outside Alaric's apartment, I wasn't sure if I would come out of this alive.

Shaking my head, I pushed open the door, sighing in relief when I caught sight of Katherine, slouched on the sofa. I dropped my bag down by the door and rolled my neck, loosening my tight muscles.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, taking my arms in her hands as I closed the door, looking around. Good. He wasn't back yet. At this rate, with his wolf still pouncing in my mind, but he was getting tired, nearing his end. He'd be back sometime tomorrow. "I was supposed to be let free when you killed Klaus."

"Yeah, that didn't happen." Her eyes ran over my face, taking a look at me until her eyes stopped on my neck. Her fingers brushed over the light scar that had marred my skin, where Klaus had bitten me.

For some reason, the bite mark wouldn't go away, not even with the help of some herbs. I had refused Caroline's blood and she understood when Jenna explained why.

"Where did you get this?" She was showing concern for me, something I found strange. From what I'd heard about Katherine, she only cared about herself, yet here she was, concerned about me.

"It doesn't matter." I waved her off, moving out her reach as I glanced around the apartment. Our game was still set up on the table and left how it ended, halfway through the game.

"Did he bite you?"

"He was trying to prove a point," I told her, running my fingers over the back of the chair I had sat in. "He knew I still had my magic and he wanted me to use it."

"Well, what happened? Why isn't he dead?" I could feel her annoyance rolling off her and with the way she leaned on one hip, arms crossed she wasn't bothered about showing her annoyance.

"Elijah helped him."

"What? Why?" Her reaction was like ours. She felt betrayed by Elijah too.

"Klaus has his family. I guess, in a way, Elijah was just doing what we were." It made sense to me. Elijah seemed like a man of honour, he would do anything for his family, even if it meant betraying my family.

I was angry at him before, but I knew what he was doing now. I was willing to do the same for Damon.

"Urgh." It was as Katherine felt the same as me.

"Did you know?" I asked her, tapping my arm where Damon had been bitten. With the way she couldn't meet my eyes, I knew she did. "You understand why I'm here then?"

"No!" Her head shot up and she shook it frantically. "You can't make a deal with him. Trust me, it won't bring any good."

"You know I have to do this. He seems to like me. I can save Damon, Katherine. I just need Klaus."

"I don't like it," she grumbled, following me as I made my way into the kitchen. She frowned as I pulled a small glass from the cupboard and a knife from the draw. "What are you doing?"

"You're probably hungry, I can help you," I muttered, cutting my palm and squeezing it over the glass, letting my blood fall into it. I muttered a spell under my breath to help with the flow and when the glass was nearly full, I stopped the spell and muttered a quick healing spell to heal my wound. "Here." I slid the cup towards her, watching as she took it slowly, holding it in her hand for a second before drinking.

"Thank you," she said, licking her lips and rinsing the glass out.

"We're gonna be here for a while, do you mind if I cook?" I nodded to the box of pasta in the cupboard and grabbed a few other ingredients from around the kitchen.

* * *

Surprisingly, Katherine joined me for dinner and we finished off our game before she offered me the use of the bed. I turned her down because I wasn't sure I wanted to sleep in a bed that Alaric may have possibly had sex with Jenna in.

Yep, I wasn't going there.

Instead, I ended up on the sofa, Alaric's pillows stolen from his bed and a throw Katherine had wrapped around me. Which was weird.

We stayed up for a while, Katherine lying on her back in the middle of the bed while I snuggled on the sofa and I listened to the stories of her life before she was a vampire and then after her transition before I drifted off.

I woke with a start at about sevenish to the feeling of Klaus' clear mind sending smug, proud thoughts my way. I wasn't sure if he knew he was doing it, but I got his message loud and clear. He was no longer in his wolf form.

Since then, I'd been reading through my grimoire, reading over the different spells and chants I could use to convince Klaus to give me the cure.

"What are you doing here?" Katherine asked, speeding to the door. I turned to face the door, realising that Stefan must have found out about Klaus too.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan repeated, looking at me over Katherine's shoulder.

"Probably the reason you're here, Stefan," I said resting my grimoire on the table and stood, tugging down my jumper.

"No! You can't be here, you need to leave!" he argued, trying to push Katherine off him.

"I've got a better chance of getting the cure than you, Stefan. He doesn't have any witches left, He needs me."

"I won't let you do this."

"You can't decide what I can do. If I want to do this, I will. I am!" I fired back, crossing my arms and watching in satisfaction when Katherine pinned him to the wall.

"Klaus, you're back," she said, keeping her eyes locked on Stefan as the hybrid and his brother walked into the apartment.

Wait. How did Elijah get in here? Didn't he need to be inviting in? Was Alaric dead? How did he get in?

"Look who decided to come for a visit," Katherin added, pulling Stefan into view for the Original brothers to see.

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" His eyes flashed to me then and that famous and alluring smirk of his pulled at his lips. "Hello, my Little Witch."

"I need your help," Stefan and I said at the same time and I rolled my eyes as he tried to take a protective stance in front of me.

"You know about Damon's bite," I said, flicking Stefan into the wall with my magic and locked eyes with the hybrid. "I need your help."

"For my brother," Stefan muttered, glaring at me as he moved closer to Klaus. Why was he acting like it was a competition? Did it matter who got the cure?

"Well, whatever it is, he's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention." The bastard knew what he was doing. The longer we waited, the less time Damon had left and the more control and power Klaus had over us.

"You understand how important family is or you wouldn't be here," Elijah said, stepping forward. I growled as I locked eyes with him, smiling as the Original flinched at the pain I sent to him. Yeah, I could do Bonnie's little mind pain trick too.

"Exactly, Elijah, that's why you can wait!" I snapped, flicking my hand at him and watching as he fell to his knees. "Klaus, be a dear and put the dagger away." I didn't even need to look at him to know he held the silver dagger. "I understand you want your family back, Elijah, but my dad doesn't have the same amount of time that you do. I'm sure you understand. Now you." I turned to Klaus, giving him a smile as the dagger vanished from his hand and appeared in mine. "I would like your blood to heal my dad and then we can start over."

"You're a little too … demanding, love," Klaus said, raising his eyebrow as he glanced at Stefan who was watching with a frown. He took a step towards me and then frowned when he couldn't move any closer. "Now, now, you want your cure? Stop using your magic on me."

"I'm here to make a deal with you, Klaus. The cure for—"

"For what, love? What could you possibly give me that would be worth the cure?" He had a point. I couldn't find anything in the grimoire that would be worth anything to Klaus. Half the stuff he could get from any other witch. "I can find another witch so your magic isn't a good enough deal."

"Niklaus," Elijah hissed through the strain of my magic. "Give her some respect. She's here for her family, surely you can understand that?"

It seemed Elijah's words had some effect on Klaus as he huffed and straightened himself up.

"What can you offer me?"

I bit my lip and glanced at Katherine and Stefan before giving a small shrug. There was something I read, but I wasn't sure if it would be accepted by my ancestors.

"Have you heard of a mind-link before? They're able to connect two minds." I was intrigued to see the surprise on his face. Had he felt the bond I had with him since the ritual? I thought that was only one-sided. "My magic can also create a bond between us. In a sense, I'd be bound to you."

"No!"

I blinked in surprise at the three voices sharing their outrage at the suggestion. Klaus seemed to get a rise out of their dislike for it by the way his lips curled up. I could only roll my eyes as I pushed my sleeves up and crossed my arms in front of me for comfort.

"I'm not sure if it'll work, but if it does then I'd be bound to you. I wouldn't be able to use my magic against you." I looked at Stefan and quickly looked back at Klaus as I spoke the next words. "My life would be tied to yours. If you die. I die."

"I like the sound of this bond."

"Don't do it, Ehtel," Stefan begged and I knew he had plans to eventually kill Klaus. He wouldn't be able to do that if I was linked to him through the bond. Damon wouldn't let anyone kill Klaus.

"How do we go about making this bond?" It seemed Klaus had come to an agreement.

"You'll give me the cure?" I asked not letting him try to gain the upper hand. If I was going to go through with this, then I needed him to agree to the cure.

"How do you know it'll work?" Did he even know if it would work?

"I trust in my ancestors, Klaus," I told him, raising an eyebrow as if trying to tempt him to speak against me.

"Well, if you do …" He grabbed Katherine's arm and bit into her wrist. I jumped forward at the action, seeing the betrayal and horror or Katherine's face as she sobbed. Amongst her cries, Klaus bit into his wrist and shoved it to her mouth, forcing her to drink. "Look at that," he said as we watched the bite mark heal, proving his blood was the cure I wanted. "Shall we agree on our deal, love?"

"I have to summon my ancestors," I muttered, taking a step back and biting my lip. I could only hope that they'd be willing to make this bond. Closing my eyes, I begged one of them to answer, hoping they'd come like they had helped me find the cure for Damon.

"Etheldred," a soft voice called.

I opened my eyes to see three women in front of me, looking very real and not ghost-like. It only took me a minute to realise who they were and I stumbled for words, unable to come to an understanding of why they were here.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, looking between the three of them and stumbling back. I was met with familiar arms wrapping around me and I didn't bother pushing the hybrid away.

"You called for us," one of the other women with dark hair said, a knowing smile on her face.

"I called for my ancestors, not you three," I muttered, pinching my arm to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Is there a problem?" Klaus' voice rumbled against my back and against my will, I felt myself relaxing against him.

"There's no problem, Niklaus, young Etheldred is simply shocked," the red-head told him, her smile brightening as Klaus pulled me closer. "We've been waiting for over two thousand years for this to happen."

"You're talking about this bond?" Elijah asked, finally finding the strength to stand now that my magic had left him. "The bond between my brother and this witch?"

"It's been set in stone, Elijah. Ever since we helped your mother cast her spell," the blonde said, a knowing look on her face. "Yes, we granted the magic for your mother to turn you into vampires. We needed Niklaus."

"What do you need me for?" Klaus asked, the tone of his voice becoming defensive as he pulled us back a step.

"Nothing bad, Niklaus. You're going to help us break our curse."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Please review and let me know what you think xx**


	14. A Binding Ceremony

**So ... this chapter does get a bit sexual about halfway through so if you're against that or don't enjoy that then just skip after the ceremony. But to those of you that do enjoy that sort of thing, I hope you enjoy it. I'm not really confident in writing sex scenes yet, so please don't judge me too harshly.**

**As usual, sorry for any mistakes, please enjoy, hope you're all staying safe.**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**A BINDING CEREMONY**

* * *

"Who are these witches?" Klaus hissed, turning me to face him as his eyes flashed yellow. My hands shook as I rested them on his shoulders and glanced at the three women all smiling at us.

"They're the Original Witches, Klaus. Agnes, Ingrid, and Etheldred."

"The Original Witches?" Elijah asked, the curious look on his face growing until he realised something. "If I'm not mistaken, aren't all witches descendants from your bloodline?"

"In a sense, yes," Etheldred said, moving over to the vampire and giving him a slight nod. "Not all are from our bloodline, but we created thousands of branches through the magic of our blood. The famous Bennet witches you hear of were created through Agnes' magic."

"Wait," I said, pushing out of Klaus' arms as I stepped towards my namesake. "You're telling me that you three created witches? How is that possible?"

"It's a long story, Ethel," Ingrid mocked, resting her very real hand on my shoulder and led me to the centre of the room, where there was space. "You wanted a binding ceremony. That's why we're here."

"What? A ceremony? No, I wanted you to bind me to him," I muttered, pointing to Klaus as he followed curiously. "No ceremony. Just a simple binding."

"Yes, and the binding you're talking about needs to be done in a ceremony," Agnes said, joining her sister.

"A marriage ceremony," Etheldred announced, clapping her hands in excitement.

"What?"

At least I wasn't the only one to be shocked considering the four some-what alive beings in the room exclaimed their shock together.

"You want her magic bound to you?" Klaus nodded at Agnes' words. "You want her life bound to you?" Another nod from the hybrid. "Then this is the bond you need."

"Are you willing to undergo it, Niklaus?" Ingrid asked. She was giving him a look that stated she already knew what he was going to say.

How was I meant to save Damon if we both refused this bond?

"Yes."

"Wait. What?" I cried out, spinning to face the hybrid. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting what you agreed on, love." He said it as if it was obvious.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. This isn't something you do, Niklaus," I hissed turning to Elijah, who also looked shocked. "Elijah, what is your brother doing?"

"I'm trying to process it, Ethel, but I think he's agreeing to your terms."

"But marriage," Katherine said, reminding me that she was still here. She was watching from the corner, Stefan standing at her side looking conflicted. "Why would he agree to marriage?"

"It's not about the marriage," Stefan interrupted, his eyes on Klaus as the hybrid smirked. "He wants the power. He's just realized how powerful she could be. We all have, and he wants it."

That made more sense.

Was I happy with it? No. Did I expect it? Yes.

"You're going to let a seventeen-year-old marry him?" I asked, turning to face Etheldred. "He's what? Twenty-five years old in looks and a thousand-odd years old in age?"

"I'll have you know, love, I was twenty-two when I was turned," Klaus said with a smile on his face. He was enjoying this too much.

"Yeah, well I'm seventeen you arsehole. You're five years older than me, technically." I turned back to my grandmother. "You're happy with him snatching me from the crib? Letting a seventeen-year-old get married?"

"Ethel, my dear, I was married at fourteen and I had my three girls by the time I was eighteen."

"Stop putting it off, Ethel, this was your decision in the first place," Ingrid snapped, crossing her arms as she glanced at the three vampires in the room. "Considering the three of you are here, you can be the witnesses to the binding."

"Fine. Let's get this over with," I grumbled, allowing Etherldred to take my hand. She reached out for Klaus, who hesitated for a second before placing his hand in hers.

"Luckily you've already started the process through your mind-link," Agnes said, moving behind Elijah and shuffling him forward. She repeated it with Katherine and Stefan before taking her place between them. Ingrid placed herself between Stefan and Elijah, making a circle around Etheldred, Klaus, and I.

"Let me get you ready," Etheldred said, a knife appearing in her hands. She took our left hands and made a quick slash, cutting our palms. She joined our hands together, Klaus' blood mixing with mine as a green silk fabric tied out hands together. Etheldred took a step back, joining the circle between Katherine and Elijah.

"Niklaus, with this bond do you promise to protect our daughter? Do you promise to bind yourself to her and her alone? Do you promise to never lay a hand on her in malice? Do you promise to stick by her side in all that is to come?" The three sisters chanted, looking at the two of us as they linked hands with the vampires, locking us in the circle.

I was hoping he'd refuse and we could find a different alternative, but from the smirk on his face and flash of malice in his eyes, I knew it wouldn't be so.

"I do."

I almost cringed at the confidence in his voice. Why did it seem he was enjoying this?

"Etheldred-Rose, do you promise never to use your magic on Klaus in malice? Do you promise to bind yourself to him and him alone? Do you promise to stick by his side, no matter his choices? Do you promise to give him his deepest desires?"

Locking eyes with the hybrid, I took in a deep breath and reminded myself why I was doing this.

"I do," I whispered, feeling Klaus squeeze my hand. It was as if he was afraid I would say no.

"In the light of your promises made, we bind you together for eternity." There was a warm light that twisted around our hands before spreading out to circle, wrapping around the vampires and witches. "In the sight of your witnesses, these promises can't be broken. You've promised to protect and never harm each other. For that promise, in return for your safety, your witnesses can never utter a word of this union, unless the knowledge is already known."

What were they protecting us from? Why was there a need to keep this union quiet? As if reading my mind, Klaus raised his eyebrow as if I could supply him with the answers.

"To finish the binding you must complete the bedding ceremony."

"What?" I exclaimed, trying to pull my hand away from Klaus. I looked at Etheldred, my eyes wide as she gave me an encouraging smile. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

"You've read about the ceremony, Ethel, you know you have to bind yourself through blood, body and spirit. You've only bound yourself through blood. You need to complete this," Ingrid said, almost irritated by my interruption.

"No!"

"You also know what happens if you leave the ceremony incomplete," Agnes added, her magic touching briefly in my mind.

"What happens?" Klaus and Elijah asked, the curiosity leaking through. They were always eager to learn more about magic.

"Her spirit is starting to link to yours if she doesn't complete this ceremony she'll start losing her magic and then she'll eventually die."

"And what of Niklaus?" Elijah asked, looking at his brother. I could already tell he knew the answer and from the stern look Klaus gave me, I knew he knew too.

"He'll die too." Why did Stefan sound so hopeful?

"We need to finish the ceremony," Klaus said, raising his right hand and cupping my chin. He lifted my head so our eyes locked and he gave me a stern look. "You will die if you don't complete this ceremony."

"So will you." Klaus scoffed at my angry remark.

"I'm not just doing this for myself, Ethel. Have a little self-worth and accept that you don't want to die."

"And what if I want that to happen? What if I want to die so you end up that way too?" I asked him, tilting my head up in defiance. "You deserve it after all. You killed Elena. You killed Luke."

His jaw set and his eyes became firmer. He tightened his hold on my chin and his nostrils flared.

"There are things worse than death, Ethel," Elijah interrupted, his voice floating over my haze of anger. "You get to spend an eternity thinking of new ways to torture and torment him and I promise I'll be there to help you."

"Elijah!" It seemed Klaus wasn't keen on his brother plotting against him.

"You said you'd do anything, Ehtel. This is what we ask." I glared over at Ingrid, my nostrils flaring and my teeth clenched tightly.

"Fine, but I'm not doing it here." I turned my gaze back onto Klaus, aware that he still hadn't let go of my chin. "You'll give the cure to Damon first."

"Fine." He pulled away from me and with a warm brush against my hand, the green silk tying us together disappeared and in place was a silver band on our ring fingers. It felt heavy on my finger and it also felt like it was warm.

Klaus stepped to the edge of the circle and Agnes conjured a vial, handing it to him. How were they able to do magic if they were dead? This was something I needed to learn.

The hybrid bit into his palm and rested it over the opening of the vial, waiting for it to fill. When the deed was done, he capped it and handed it to Katherine.

"Take this to Damon, Katerina," he said, flicking his eyes to Stefan as he went to protest. Katherine gave me a look and I knew she was promising me she'd do it and then she was gone.

"She won't do it," Stefan said weakly, taking a step towards the door.

"Because she'd not on vervain?" Klaus rolled his eyes as the young Salvator looked at him. "I'm not a fool, Stefan."

"Niklaus, you have unfinished business," Elijah said, nodding towards me and then sparing a glance at the three ghosts.

"Of course. Brother do keep Stefan here until I return." Klaus came to my side, his hand resting on the bottom of my back. "I'll reunite you with our family once I've bedded my wife."

I shivered at the word, completely forgetting that he was indeed my husband now. Did he have to be so crude about it? Who even says bedded anymore?

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked. Did he think I was going to take Klaus to the boarding house where Elena no doubt was? I wasn't that stupid.

"I'm going home," I said, taking his hand and closing my eyes.

"What was that?" Klaus asked, and I opened my eyes to see us in my bedroom at the cottage. "How did I get in here?"

"Magic." I pulled my hand out of his and stood in front of the bed, my hands twitching at my sides.

Why did the large king-size bed look so intimidating? Why did the large room feel so small?

"You're scared," Klaus sounded so unsure of himself as if he found it strange that he knew what I was feeling.

"It's part of the bond," I told him, rubbing my arms as I turned to face him. "Shall we get this over with?"

"Alright, love, let's get this over with," he replied, stepping towards me, becoming baffled as my nervousness flared up with each step he took towards me. "What's wrong?"

I moved my eyes away from his face, glancing out the window at the darkening woods that surrounded the house. Why was it now, when his masculinity washed over me and my stomach fluttered in anticipation that I grew nervous? I should have been nervous through the ceremony but I accepted that and rolled with it, but now, now I wasn't sure what I wanted.

"You've never done this before." I could hear the smile in his voice. I flinched as his fingers brushed my cheek and I glanced at him, my stomach fluttering at the unusual softness in his eyes.

"I've got two vampires for parents. It's not easy to lose your virginity when they compel everyone!" I snapped, slapping his hand away. I wasn't in the mood for his condescending tone.

"Ah, come on, love, I was only teasing," he said, taking my chin in his hand and lifted my face to look at him. He had a twinkle in his eyes and his smirk was replaced by a soft smile. It was a side I would never have thought of seeing from him. His fingers brushed down my neck and I could feel him tracing the bite mark on the left side of my neck. "You have my mark"

He seemed flustered to see the white scar of his bite. He probably assumed I'd have one of the many vampires in my life heal it. As his fingers brushed the scar, my stomach flipped at his touch.

He tugged my jumper down exposing my neck and collarbone. I jumped as his lips brushed against my collarbone and slowly made their way up to his mark, his tongue tracing the scar.

I let out a ragged breath as I tilted my head back, giving him more access to my skin. I brought my hand up, letting my fingers brush against his cheek and stubble.

His hands slid down my sides until his fingers were curled on the bottom of my jumper. As he pulled my jumper up, his rough hands slid up my stomach and I got that churning feeling as if I was about to go on a rollercoaster.

He pulled his lips away from my neck as he lifted the jumper over my head, throwing it behind him. His hands found a place on the dip of my waist and his head tilted down, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

"I wasn't expecting this," he purred, his thumbs brushing the bottom of my black lacey bra. I had thrown him off a little by the lack of clothing under my jumper. He dipped his head, his nose brushing against mine as his lips left a feather-light kiss to mine.

A frown appeared on my face at the feeling he left me with. Why did I think it felt pleasant?

Klaus dragged his lips down and sucked lightly on my collarbone, his hot breath mixing with the cool, wet trail left by his tongue. His hands slid around my back, his fingers dipping into my jeans, tracing the edge of my underwear as his lips moved up my neck until he was sucking on his mark.

If my head wasn't already tilted back, I would have tilted it back at the tantalizing feel that spread through my stomach, settling between my legs. His lips spread into a smile and I must have moaned out loud as well as in my head.

My hands, which had been hanging by my sides, rested on his hips, fiddling with his shirt. My fingers fumbled as I slid my hands under the cotton and his stomach jerked at my cold touch. Sliding his shirt up I pulled away from his lips so I could tug his shirt away from his body.

Klaus took a step back and his hands moved to my hips as he gave me a soft smile. What was with all the smiles from him?

Rolling my eyes, I wetted my lips and raised my hands, ignoring the slight shake as they rested on his stomach, tracing the small dip to the top of his jeans. I flashed my eyes up to him but quickly looked down and fiddled with the button of his jeans. I swallowed heavily and bit my lip as my fingers twitched against the fly of his jeans. I could feel how he'd become hard and it was daunting that he'd become aroused because of me.

As if sensing my apprehension, his hands took mine and raised them to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. There was something different in his eyes as he looked me over, his eyes sliding down from mine, over my lips and down to my chest.

Instead of unbuttoning his jeans, he started with mine, his hands sliding down my thighs as he knelt, following the trail my jeans took with his lips. I closed my eyes as my mouth dropped open and my chest heaved. This was getting extremely intense and I wasn't sure if I was prepared for this.

I hadn't imagined that Klaus would behave like this during sex. I had thought he'd push me towards the bed, hitch my legs around his hips and pound into me. _Jesus, Ethel. You've got an imagination._ Even at the thought of what he could have done, I could feel myself getting wet.

I jumped as his nose nudged at the apex of my thighs, sliding over the damp material of my lacy knickers.

"This is awkward," I squeaked, resting my hands on his shoulders as he tilted his head up to gaze at me.

"You're making it awkward," he grumbled his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin of my inner thigh.

"Well, I'm sorry. Not everyone can be perfect like you, Mr 'I'm-better-than-everyone-else-and-you-should-give-me-respect-or-I'll-kill-you-and-your'—"

I spluttered as my back came in contact with my soft covers. Klaus was above me his weight barely pressing against me as he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine.

The kiss started off as light brushes, his teeth grazing over my bottom lip before pulling it between his teeth and sucking it into his mouth. As my arousal grew, his kisses grew stronger, and his tongue slid into my mouth, brushing the roof of my mouth.

"I'm sorry!" I uttered as he pulled back, blood rolling down the side of his mouth. "It tickled." Okay, it was lame, but I wasn't expecting the roof of my mouth to be ticklish until his tongue brushed against it.

"You bit me."

True. I had bitten him, but it wasn't intentional.

"It was an accident," I stated, pushing up on my elbows as I examined him. I followed the scrunch of his nose, down to his pouting lips and over the trickle of blood on his chin. My eyes went down his smooth chest and lowered until they rested on his naked and extremely … eager and … hefty cock. "When did you lose your clothes?"

He snorted as he held in his laughter. Raising his brows, he bit his bottom lip as his fingers teasingly pulled at my knickers. I lifted my hips without realising and my eyes widened as he ripped them down the middle, smirking as he startled me.

"You're an animal," I hissed, frowning as he held up the torn lace and brought them to his nose. I guess that was actually a thing. I thought people only did that in books.

"Ah, so you are a natural ginger." My nostrils flared as I smacked him on the head. He ducked, his shoulders going beneath my knees as he dove between my legs, his tongue swiping over my folds.

"God," I groaned, dropping off my elbows as I squeezed my thighs against his head.

Klaus let his teeth drag over my clit, nipping it lightly and sending a shock through me causing my insides to turn to mush. He sucked the little nub into his mouth as he dragged his left hand down my thigh until his finger was pressing into my slick entrance.

I shifted around his finger, the pressure something I wasn't used to, but hissed as his other hand reached up and pinched my nipple through my bra. Running my hands up my stomach, I let them move over his hand and then slid them under my slightly raised back and unclasped my bra, removing it.

His warm hand covered my breast, squeezing the globe that fit snugly in his grasp. He tweaked my nipple and his teeth bit down lightly the joint action making my walls flutter around his finger. Shifting under my legs, Klaus slid another finger into me, both fingers curling and rubbing against my walls in a rhythm that drove me crazy.

"Stop," I whined, pushing at his head as I felt an intense feeling growing within me. It was too much. His fingers inside me, his teeth against my clit and his hand rubbing and pinching my nipple.

He moved his mouth, pressing a kiss to my left thigh and as my orgasm burst through me and he bit down.

It was intense. The pain with the pleasure wasn't something I was expecting, but it seemed to work.

Especially if he was going by the noises I was making.

"I think you're ready, love."

Klaus removed himself from between my legs, kissing his way up my stomach as he settled between my thighs, his warm, solid cock brushing against my sensitive nub. I was tempted to turn away from him and as if he could sense it, his hand came to rest at the base of my neck.

His nose trailed it's way up my neck, his lips and tongue following its path until he was sucking on the bite mark he seemed fascinated by. Running my hands through his curls, I tugged his head up and planted my lips to his. They were plump and tasted sweet.

The hand that was resting at the base of my neck slid up and cupped my chin, pushing me away from his lips. As his eyes locked with mine and I was overcome with a feeling I wasn't used to. I couldn't even describe it but it made me feel safe.

I felt him shift and he slowly pushed himself into me, the stretch pushing my breath from my lips as he settled into my heat. It felt heavy. How was I meant to describe it? I'd never felt anything like it before, but it felt like there was this weight being pushed into me and it wasn't very comfortable.

Klaus captured my lips in his as he rutted his hips forward, stretching and breaking into me, pushing in further than I expected. My legs wrapped around him, trying to adjust to this new position and I was surprised to find he slid even deeper.

Turning my head away from him, I bit into his shoulder, screaming around the muscle as he picked up his pace, the building pressure making my throat go dry. I had never pictured sex to be like this. I expected there to be a lot more fumbling and awkwardness. I suppose it had something to do with him being a thousand-years-old and experienced. He knew what he was doing.

I squirmed against him as his hand slid between our bodies, nudging my clit until he was circling it in a different rhythm to his thrusts. How he could even do that was beyond me. I was struggling to keep my mind on the way he felt as he moved in and out of me.

I took my mouth off his shoulder, watching as the bite mark I left behind healed. He turned his head to me, capturing my lips in a soft kiss and then dipped his head to my neck his teeth sinking over the top of his previous mark, reopening the scar.

As his teeth sunk into my skin, my walls clenched around him and I felt him twitch inside of me, his release following as I dragged my nails down his back.

I heaved against him trying to catch my breath as I trailed my hands up his back and into his hair. He pressed a kiss over my neck, his nose resting next to the bite mark as he regulated his breathing too.

He hadn't softened inside me. I could feel his erection as I fluttered around him. He shifted his hips, sending a jolt of excitement through me as I clenched around him, my body heating up as he began a sluggish tempo. My hands slid to his shoulders and I gripped them tightly, pulling myself closer to him.

Klaus slid his arms around me and tugged me forward and I was startled as our position changed and I found myself in his lap. He was resting on his legs, my bum brushing against his thighs as I jolted with every thrust of his hips.

I slung my arms over his shoulders, pressing my breasts to his chest and tipped my head back, inviting him to my neck. I probably shouldn't have offered my neck to a vampire hybrid, but it seemed like instinct.

He didn't bite me, just nuzzled his nose over my throat, his lips pressing butterfly kisses down my neck and over my chest. Klaus' hands squeezed my arse, the pressure inside me building up as his pace began to grow rapidly.

My back slammed against the wall and I glanced down at Klaus who had moved us from the bed to the wall. At this angle, he was hitting my g-spot in a more intense way. As my heart picked up its pace and my body grew slick with sweat, I was growing sluggish and drained.

I slumped against Klaus, my head resting against his shoulder and my legs wrapped around his hips. His hands slid under my bum, lifting me higher as he accelerated his thrusts. His chin rested on the juncture of my neck and one hand slid up my back, pulling me closer as he released himself into me.

I couldn't find it in me to finish, but his fingers seemed to slip between us, tugging and twisting my nub until I was squeezing around him, spurring his hips to roll against mine as the last of his seed was milked.

In the annoying way vampires abused their speed, I was lying on my back on the bed and Klaus was between my legs, cleaning me with a warm flannel. I glanced up at him through my hazed eyes, frowning at the soft smile on his face.

I mumbled something to him, the words not making much sense to me as I pushed him away and snuggled into my covers, shifting them so I was curled up underneath them.

Klaus shuffled behind me, his hand running over my bare stomach, grazing my waist as he pulled me back into him as he snuggled under the blanket with me. I couldn't even find it in me to fight against him.

I was too tired.

Tired from having sex. Tired from all the drama. Tired of not knowing if Damon really cared about me.

I was tired and I was content being in the arms of Klaus, even though he was a murderous raving lunatic.

"What are you smiling about?" His voice was husky and it felt relaxing as it rumbled against my back. I shook my head at the quote from Harry Potter knowing he wouldn't get it.

"Shh, just sleep," I muttered, bringing my hand up and resting it on the arm that was wrapped around me.

Klaus huffed but pulled me closer, his naked body pressing into mine and it felt nice to be held this close. To be cuddled and warmed by another person. To not be alone.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Please tell me what you think xx**


	15. Backstabbing Family Members

**I'm sorry if Klaus seems a little out of character at the moment. I'm not exactly sure how he'd act in this sort of situation, but I feel like he'd go with the flow and turn things around so they benefit him.**

**I promise in future chapters he'll be back to his normal, loveable self.**

**As usual, apologies for any mistakes, please enjoy and keep staying safe.**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**BACKSTABBING FAMILY MEMBERS**

* * *

The tantalizing smell of coffee mixed with cinnamon woke me.

I frowned at the cup of steaming coffee being held in front of my face and followed the arm up to Klaus' face, who was looking slightly put out. I took the cup, shifting so my back was resting against the headboard, tucking the blanket under my arms to cover my bare chest.

"Thank you?" I wasn't sure what was going on. Why was he bringing me coffee? Why was he still here?

"I don't know how to do …" he waved at me, gesturing to all of me, "this"

"Umm, me either, but you didn't need to make me coffee." I took a sip of the coffee, closing my eyes as the cinnamon washed over me making my muscles relax. "I thought you would have gone."

"What?"

I opened my eyes and tilted my head to the side taking in the slightly ruffled hair and bright blue eyes of the hybrid.

"You have to deal with your brother and Stefan." I shrugged and moved under the covers, sliding my feet out from underneath the blanket, resting them on the floor. "I thought you would have left to deal with them."

"I was waiting for you to wake." He reached out for me, taking my hand and helped me from the bed. I furrowed my brows at him and it took me a moment to realise I was standing naked in front of him.

"What's that?" he asked and I followed his eyes to my left leg. I was surprised to see a new marking on my thigh. I placed my coffee on the bedside table and moved my fingers to brush over the beautifully detailed wolf that had covered my thigh.

It was shaded and even though it was black and grey, the wolf's eyes felt like they were peering into my soul. They were also rather familiar. Surrounding the wolf were the same intricate flowers that decorated my right side and ribs.

"That's where you bit me," I mumbled, running my fingers over the spot where he had bitten me the night before. "This is your wolf."

"What does it mean?" he asked, his fingers brushing over the tattoo as he stepped closer to me.

It took me a minute to reply to him. My mouth had fallen open at his touch and I felt a recognisable heat growing between my legs at the brush of his fingers.

"When strong magic is used it can leave its mark," I explained, capturing his hand as it rose higher on my thigh. "I think it's due to the ceremony."

"And this?" His fingers brushed over my neck and I knew he was talking about the bite mark. "It's already healed but it's left a scar."

"I dunno, maybe it's something to do with your wolf?" I shrugged not knowing how to explain that one. I wasn't even sure it would disappear with vampire blood in my system.

"Hmm."

Why did I get the feeling he liked that he marked me?

"We should leave." Yep. He was starting to freak me out a little.

* * *

Stefan and Elijah rose as we entered the apartment. Klaus was leading me through the door with his hand on the base of my back. I had noticed that he'd gotten rather gentlemanly with me.

Helping me from the bed. Hovering around me as I walked down the stairs. Putting my leather jacket on for me. Asking my permission to hold me as he sped to Alaric's apartment.

It was weird.

"It's good to see you, Ethel," Elijah said, coming to me and taking my hand placing a kiss on the back of it. I was surprised, to say the least, but the rumbling of the chest behind me notified me that Klaus didn't like his brother's gesture.

"Are you going to welcome her to our family, Elijah? A new sister for you." Now I felt like Klaus was just being a dick. Elijah was being polite. Not sexual or coming on to me at all. "The perfect little wife."

"Yeah," I said, turning to face him, my lips turned down matching the frown on my face. "You can stop that now. I'm not going to be your perfect little wife, Klaus. I am my own person. I may be bound to you, but you don't control me."

His jaw clenched, the muscles ticking as he loomed over me. His eyes were flashing fiercely and I could imagine fire burning from the blue orbs.

"Niklaus," Elijah interrupted pulling me away from his brother. "You made me a promise."

"Of course." Klaus flashed his brother a look and disappeared. I turned to face Elijah, to thank him, but froze and looked at him in horror as Klaus appeared next to him. He turned Elijah and shoved a dagger into his heart, a smirk lifting the side of his lips. "And you shall be reunited with them, brother."

Klaus stepped away and Elijah fell to the floor. His skin was grey and veins were covering his face as he was left to desiccate.

I glanced up to Klaus, my mouth fluttering like a fish as I looked between the brothers.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, my voice weak as I stepped around Elijah. "No. Don't bother answering, I know exactly why you did it."

Klaus rolled his eyes. The big bad hybrid actually rolled his eyes before turning to face the quiet vampire in the room.

I turned my attention to Stefan wondering why Klaus even kept him here.

"I was thinking about getting you to come with me while I hunt down some werewolves," Klaus stated, smirking to Stefan as the younger vampire kept Klaus in his sights. "I've got Ethel now and she's much more useful."

"No. I'll do it, just let her stay here," Stefan interrupted, stepping forward as if Klaus was about to reject him.

"She is my wife, Stefan. How could you think I'd leave her here … unprotected." He was being a prick.

He was trying to lure Stefan into his trap.

We should have learnt this move of his by now. How many times had he pulled it in the last couple of days?

"She's got Damon, he'll protect her."

"Is he okay?" I asked, remembering that everything I had gone through last night was for him.

"Yes. He called last night after he received the cure. It worked."

"I never doubted it wouldn't work, Stefan," I said. Had he forgotten that Klaus had bitten and cured Katherine?

"He's alive. I didn't tell him you made a deal with Klaus. I couldn't." It seemed the enchantment the Original Witches placed on him was working. "He asked about you though. Caroline and Jenna told him you were coming to Klaus. Katherine mentioned seeing you here," he said, flicking his eyes to the hybrid.

"Ethel, darling, why don't you go see your dad. I need to speak with Stefan, here," Klaus announced. I eyed him, unsure what he intended to do while I was gone. "Not to worry, love. I'll come and get you later."

"Okay." I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but with Klaus leading me to the door, I felt I didn't have a choice. To my surprise, Klaus pulled my head up to his, meeting my lips with his in a light peck.

"Later, love."

* * *

I was hesitant to go into the boarding house.

Stefan had said that Damon was okay, but why hadn't he bothered to call me? It's not like I didn't have my phone with me. I was hoping he'd call to say he was still alive.

Caroline and Jenna had sent me a bunch of texts. They didn't get any replies, but they said they knew I wouldn't reply until I was able to. They were just letting me know they were concerned.

"Effie." I was wrapped in Caroline's arms, her head tucked into my shoulder as she bent down to my height. "You're alive."

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, pulling out of her embrace and looking at her anxiously.

"Katherine seemed worried about you and this is Katherine so I knew something must have happened." Her eyes roamed over my face taking everything in as she looked for any sign that I'd been hurt.

"No. I just made a deal with Klaus. She came with the cure, so it worked," I muttered unsure whether I wanted to admit the whole truth about the deal.

"Come on, Jenna's been waiting for you." She tugged on my hand, dragging me into the kitchen where Jenna was sitting with Ric and Jeremy.

"Thank god!" Jenna exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. Her hands ran over my face and up into my hair. I shared a look with Alaric, not understanding what she was doing. "I'm checking to see if one hair has been harmed."

"Trust me, Jenna. He didn't harm me." I flicked my eyes away from them all before glancing up to Ric. "Where's Damon?"

"He's not here."

"What do you mean he's not here?"

"He couldn't stick around waiting for you to return," Ric stated, shifting next to Jeremy as the room grew thick with my annoyance. "The longer he stayed, the more determined he was to go to Klaus himself. Elena took him out of town in hopes he wouldn't do something stupid."

Huh.

You know, it didn't surprise me that he was with Elena.

"After everything I've done for him …" I couldn't stand the thought of him leaving me. Wasn't he supposed to be my dad? Was he finally ditching me because I was no longer a helpless child?

"What did you do to save him?" Although it was Jeremy asking, I knew they all wanted to know.

"I bound myself to Klaus."

"What?"

"Why would you do that?

"Are you insane?"

"How?"

Three guesses who said what.

Jeremy, ever interested in magic, of course, said the last one, the intrigue in his voice earning a glare from Alaric. He'd been the one to ask in confusion what I'd done. It's like he couldn't process my words and was asking me to repeat them.

Caroline was asking why I'd link myself to the hybrid and Jenna was obviously the one asking if my sanity was gone.

"He wasn't even going to accept it at first but once he found out what it meant, he was eager to do it," I told them, shuffling over to the coffee machine and making myself a mug.

"And what does it mean?" Caroline asked. She was fearing the worst and she had a right to. Hadn't it been their next plan to find a way to kill Klaus? Now they couldn't do that without killing me.

"I can't use my magic against him, not to cause harm."

"Well, that's fucking stupid!" Jenna exclaimed. She even threw her hands in the air with her frustration.

"What else?" See, this was why Alaric was a teacher. He could spot when there was something more. He was very perceptive.

"My life is bound to his. If he dies, I die too."

"So we can't kill him or you'd die as well," Jeremy voiced as if he understood that their next plan was now void.

"I'm sorry. It was the only way I could save Damon."

"You don't have to apologise, Ethel. We understand." Jenna gave me a soft smile and I could see how much everything had gotten to her. It had been too much for everyone.

"Look, I'm happy that you all waited for me to return, but I'm not even sure what's going to happen next." I glanced at Caroline. I didn't want to break her heart, but I wasn't sure if Klaus was going to come and take me. "He's talking to Stefan at the moment, but he said he'd come for me later. He's gonna go look for werewolves. I think he wants to make some hybrids'."

* * *

You know that moment when you just wake from sleep. The one where you're unsure if you're hearing things, like, is that my alarm or is someone phoning me? Yeah. I experienced that but I was sleeping next to Caroline and she turned and hit me in the face thinking I was the alarm.

"Carrie, you bitch," I grumbled, looking blurrier at the side table trying to find the shrilling ring. My fingers grabbed the cold glass of the phone and I pulled it to my face, swiping at the button. "Hello."

"Hello, love." I knew that voice. Who was it?

"Who's this?" I muttered, rubbing my head at the pounding headache. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to drink our misery away last night. Caroline seemed to have that effect on me.

"I thought you would have recognised the voice of your husband," he teased causing Caroline to shoot up in the bed, her eyes wide as she looked at me in fear. I placed my finger on my lips, begging her not to say anything.

"Klaus," I stammered, waving Caroline off as she tried to get me to hang up. "Are you coming to get me? Shall I pack?"

"Easy now, sweetheart, fortunately for you, Stefan has convinced me that it isn't safe out there for you amongst the werewolves etc, etc. I've decided it's best that you stay in Mystic Falls for now."

"Oh." Relief filled me but I was somewhat upset that he was leaving me here. Did he not think I was capable of looking after myself?

"No need to sound so mournful, love, I'll be back to collect you in a couple of months."

"You're saying goodbye over the phone." I think that's what I didn't like. I'd had too many goodbyes over the phone and I still wasn't a fan of it. "Didn't have the guts to say it to my face?"

"No, I knew if I came to see you you'd stop me from bringing Stefan along for the ride. I'm not partially fond of you using your magic against me … oh wait. You can't do that anymore, can you, love?" He was a smug bastard, I'd give him that.

"You're taking Stefan with you? Why?" I blurted, sharing a look with Caroline. When Elena found out about this I knew who she'd be blaming.

"He insisted that he took your place. A loving uncle you have here, Ethel." He was taunting me, rubbing it in my face that Stefan had given himself up for me. We really needed to stop doing things like that. We were all so ready to sacrifice ourselves. "Give my love to Damon, won't you."

"Wait, Klaus, please. Will you let me call you? So I can keep an eye on you both?"

"Why would you do that, love?"

"Look, I'm still a witch, okay. If you ever need to cast a spell or something, just call me." I didn't like that Stefan was going away with him. "I'd like to stay in touch."

"I'll let Stefan call you every week," Klaus said and I suppressed the smile that wanted to escape. He knew I wanted to check up on Stefan and he was willingly giving me that chance. "I'm off now, love. Do try to keep safe."

"Goodbye, Klaus and good luck." He was going to need it.

"What the hell was that!"

Great. Just what I needed. Caroline overhearing and demanding everything from me.

"I'm not sure if I can deal with this, Carrie," I muttered hoping that if I used my new nickname for her she'd forget about it.

"He said husband, Effie. What did he mean by that?" She had her arms crossed and was even glaring at me. Jesus, she looked like an older sister scolding me.

"Exactly what it sounds like." I ran my hands through my hair and climbed out of the bed, I guess having Caroline know about it all, minus the whole sleeping with him thing, wouldn't be too bad. "When I bound myself to him, the only sort of binding ceremony we have that does what he wanted was a marriage ceremony."

"And you went through with it?"

"I was hoping he'd forget about it and find a different way to make a deal. I was surprised that he wanted to go through with it, but he did it because he can't be killed now. You can't kill him without killing me. He's using it against us."

"But marriage?" She scrunched her nose up in distaste and I knew she couldn't think of anything worse than being married to Klaus, the evil one.

"I tried to get out of it, Care, I promise you." I reached out and took her hand and gave her a sheepish look. "I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone?" She gave a hesitant nod of her head as if she understood the drama that would follow. At her agreement, a soft, warm burst of magic wrapped around us, preventing her from uttering a thing about the marriage.

"What was that?"

"Just a precaution. You can't mention the marriage unless you're talking to someone that knows." I was growing more agitated with each question that came out of her mouth. Surely we had bigger things to deal with?

"Who else knows?"

"Stefan, Elijah and Katherine."

"Why?" She was full of questions today it seemed.

"They were part of the ceremony. My ancestors needed three witnesses to their magic and they just happened to be there," I explained, sighing as I threw myself back onto the bed.

"You ancestors? What are you talking about?"

"Can we talk about something else for a moment, Caroline? I'm not really in the mood to talk about Klaus. Let's focus on how we're going to tell Damon and Elena that Stefan agreed to go on a sabbatical with the hybrid."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	16. The Language of Flowers

**Hola, my lovelies.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. It may seem like a filler, but it's setting the plot for future chapters until Klaus returns. A lot of interesting things are gonna happen, some I'm still not too sure about, but I'm gonna see where it goes.**

**Please enjoy, sorry for any mistakes and all that jazz xx**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS**

* * *

School seemed to be the one thing that could take my mind off everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks.

When Elena and Damon returned, the psychotic doppelganger had tried to attack me, blaming me for Stefan leaving. How was it my fault he'd made a deal I didn't know about?

Damon seemed to accept it, not putting any blame on me and I tried to understand where he was coming from. Did he know why Stefan did it? They had spoken on the phone the night he was cured. Had he asked Stefan to do it?

"Ethel."

I spun at the voice, surprised to see Charlie in front of me. What was he doing at the school? Where had he been for the last week?

"Charlie," I cried, running into his arms, happy when he wrapped his around me. It took me a moment to realise he was crying too. "Where have you been? I tried looking for you with a 'find-me' spell but it didn't work."

"I was in the Inbetween."

I pulled back from him with wide eyes. Why would he go there? He knew the danger of travelling to the Inbetween. It was basically the Other Side, but we could communicate with normal humans too when we travelled there, not just the supernatural. It was the place between the living world, the dead world, and the Other Side.

"Why would you go there?" I knew why he'd go there, but I wasn't sure if he was successful.

"I've been with Luke. We needed one last goodbye," he mumbled, shifting on his feet as he glanced down the hall. I smiled at Caroline who was waiting with Tyler, the two of them ready in case they needed to intervene.

I guess she had convinced the werewolf to come help if needed. I wasn't oblivious to the romance blossoming between them.

"Have you been in the Inbetween since the full moon?" Charlie gave a slight nod and I could see the remorse and resentment on his face. "You know how dangerous that is, Charlie. It's been a week."

"I was angry okay. I was trying to find a way to hurt you." Okay. At least he was honest.

"You did that," Caroline seethed, turning up at my side, her hand resting on my shoulder. "You locked her mind with Klaus during his transition. She felt everything he felt."

Charlie's brow raised, his eyes flicking between Caroline and Tyler and then turned to me. I didn't know why he was so surprised considering he knew what he was doing.

"Are you okay? I realise now that I shouldn't have done that."

"It's alright, Charlie. I understand why you did it." I waved Caroline off as she went to argue. She knew what Charlie went through, hadn't she experienced the same when Matt almost died? "I'm sorry about Luke."

"He doesn't blame you, you know," Charlie mumbled giving a small shrug. "He knows it wasn't your fault. He would rather it was him then Jenna. He was angry with me when he found out what I did."

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" I asked, taking his hand in mine as Caroline pulled us out of the hall and over to a table into the courtyard. Tyler followed behind, dropping onto the bench of another table, giving us some space.

"I was gonna leave and then I heard that our ancestors had been called." Through his sorrow, I could hear his excitement at the mention of the ancestors. Charlie had always wanted to meet them. "Can you believe that they actually answered one of us?"

"Umm, actually I called for them," I muttered, not sure how I was meant to admit to him what I had done.

"Why? What did you need them for?" He almost sounded offended that I needed them. Usually, I went to him, but I couldn't really do that considering he left.

"Damon was bitten by Tyler." I nodded over to the werewolf, giving him a soft smile to show I wasn't too worried about it now. "I needed to find a cure and asked them to help."

"That doesn't explain why they needed to come here. Effie, what did you do?"

"I could only get the cure from Klaus if I made a bond with him." Charlie looked at me unimpressed. We weren't meant to make bonds unless they were with family or in my case, Jenna and Caroline, who were basically family anyway.

"And the ancestors came to do the binding? Why did you need them? We can easily do bindings ourselves."

"Umm, well, you see, I kind bound my magic and life to him …"

"What! No, you didn't do that! Why would you do that?" He knew exactly what I had done. "Ethel, do you understand what this means?"

"Obviously I do, Charlie, I'm the one that had to go through with it," I hissed, sparing a glance to Caroline and Tyler, the pair looking over at us in concern.

"What did the Original Witches say? Did they try to stop you?"

"No, they were actually pushing for it. There was one moment I was sure Klaus wasn't going to go through with it, but he did." I was still trying to understand why he'd done it. He could have gotten my magic if we made a different deal.

"They don't do things like that. Why would they accept Klaus into the family?" Charlie asked, a crease between his brows as he tried to understand what our ancestors had done.

"Oh, god. Please don't remind me that Klaus is part of the family," I said, shivering at the thought of my husband. The only good thing with him not being here was that I could easily forget what I had done until he returned.

"Yeah, well, you have to deal with it. Have you told anyone what you did?" Charlie questioned his eyes flicking to the vampire and werewolf.

"Caroline knows, I told her. Stefan, Elijah and Katherine know too, they were the witnesses. Umm, I haven't told anyone else the complete details, just that my life and magic is bound to him."

"You haven't told Damon? Why?"

I gave Charlie a look and was happy to see the smile on his face. He knew exactly why I hadn't said anything to Damon. He didn't like it when I was kissing boys. How would he react when he found out I married Klaus?

"I'm sorry," Charlie said, reaching out and taking my hand. "I wasn't thinking straight when I saw Luke. I could only see him you know, and when I felt your magic touching against mine and I could feel you in Klaus' head, I just overreacted." He squeezed my hand and gave me a sad smile. "I'm here for you, Effie, but I think I need to go back home."

"I know." I wrapped my arms around him, happy to finally have my cousin back, even if he was heartbroken and not himself. "I really am sorry, Charlie."

I pressed a kiss to his cheek and watched him rise and walk away.

It always hurt to watch people walk away. I knew he wasn't mad at me anymore and he still loved me, but he was choosing to leave because of me. He didn't want to be here with me anymore and it hurt.

My fingers brushed against something on the table and I glanced down a sad smile on my face as I twisted the white Chrysanthemum in my fingers. He never was one for saying goodbye. He knew that I hated them and this was his way of saying it without words.

* * *

Caroline had this big plan to have a sleepover, but Bonnie wasn't too sure about coming to the boarding house. As always, the blonde vampire managed to convince everyone to do her bidding and we somehow ended up at the cottage for a Saturday night sleepover.

Elena and Bonnie wanted to order takeout, but I was adamant about no one knowing where I lived so instead I cooked.

"Who taught you to cook?" Bonnie asked, looking at the spread I set on the island. I couldn't decide what I wanted so I made mini burgers, mac 'n' cheese, curly fries, mini pizzas, nachos and hot wings.

"Damon actually. Don't look so surprised," I said, giving her a pointed look at the look on her face. "He was my main parent for the first five years of my life. He learnt how to cook and he taught me. It was a good father-daughter activity."

"I still can't picture it," she muttered, tapping her fingers on the island as she looked at me. "He doesn't really act like a dad."

How could I argue with her? In the last couple of weeks, he hadn't acted like a dad. He'd been too focused on Elena.

"Oh my god," Caroline exclaimed, dragging Elena into the kitchen. The doppelganger was still angry at me for Stefan leaving, not that it was my fault, but she wasn't listening to that. "You made all this?"

"No. It was the fairies," I mocked rolling my eyes at the blonde. "Of course I made it, Carrie." Caroline started to help herself, ignoring the look Bonnie sent Elena as the girl frowned at me. "Help yourselves. I've got popcorn, sweets and mini desserts ready for the movies later."

"Are we going to vote on films? I think we should watch The—"

"We're not watching The Notebook!" we all shouted, cutting her off before she asked to watch her favourite romance.

"No offence, Caroline, but I've been here for five weeks and I've watched the film seven times. I'm never watching it again."

"I'm with Ethel on this one," Bonnie said, shaking her head at the look Caroline sent us. "I am not watching anything romantic!"

"What about a rom-com? There are some good ones out there or just a comedy," I interrupted before Caroline could dig into Bonnie."

"Or we could watch a horror with betrayal in it," Elena snapped, her glare boring into me. I didn't even need to look at her to feel her gaze. "We've had so much betrayal in the last couple of weeks merged with the horror, why not add some more?"

Caroline shook her head at me, her eyes begging me to let it go. How long did she want me to ignore Elena's jabs? I'd sent the last week taking the blame for Stefan leaving. Damon hadn't really spoken to me, other than to say he was happy I hadn't left with Klaus. It just allowed me to realise why Stefan had done it. For Damon.

We all seemed to be doing a lot for Damon recently and the arsehole wasn't even speaking to me. I knew he was trying to follow them, trying to keep tabs on Stefan with Alaric's help, but he was ignoring me in the process.

I knew he wasn't happy about my deal with Klaus.

"Look, Elena," I started, waving off Caroline as she tried to interfere. I had enough of the shit she was dealing me. "I didn't know what Klaus was going to do. Stefan told me to go to Damon and I did. It's not my fault he left with Klaus, it's his own decision."

"You could have gone instead!" she snapped, holding her hand up as Bonnie reached out to her. "He wanted you but Stefan took your place. He could have been here, with me."

"He did it for Damon," Caroline said, trying to soothe her distraught friend. "Stefan knew Damon wouldn't be able to cope if Ethel went with Klaus. He was protecting his family Elena, surely you understand that."

Elena was silent for a long time, fiddling with the food on her plate as she glared down at the table. She didn't want to admit that Caroline was right. If she had to do the same thing for Jeremy she would. She knew what it meant to sacrifice yourself for family.

"I think you're forgetting what Ethel's had to give up to save Damon," Bonnie announced reaching out and setting her hand on Elena's arm. "She's sacrificed a lot at the hands of Klaus. She lost Luke. Charlie trapped her in Klaus' mind during his transformation. She saved Jenna, Elena."

"She's also bound her magic to him," Caroline added, giving a small shrug as we all glanced at her. "Bound her life to him. She's stuck with him forever, Elena."

"You need to stop blaming her, Elena," Bonnie said, removing her hand and picking up a mini burger. "She wasn't even there when he decided to leave."

"Fine," she grumbled, shaking her head as she admitted defeat. She gave me a quick glance before digging into her food.

Caroline gave me a soft smile and shoved the plate of food she'd been making over to me. It came as no surprise that the blonde had made me a plate of food. She'd been too attentive since I told her about Klaus … since she overheard about our marriage.

"Come on," Caroline said, nodding her head to the front room where she set up a pillow and blanket nest on the floor and surrounding sofas.

It was cute and cosy and definitely Caroline's attempt at keeping everyone happy. She placed her plate on the coffee table and found herself on the sofa giving me a bright smile as I rolled my eyes at her dramatic flair but joined her in the pile of blankets.

"So what are we watching?" Bonnie asked, her eyes settling on the piles of films Caroling set up before they arrived. She went over to the pile, grabbing all the romance ones and shoving them back on the shelf. She repeated the action until only three films remained. "The Unborn, The Descent, or 30 Days of Night?" She held up each case as she asked and it was no surprise when we all scrunched our noses at the mention of the vampire film. "No vampires."

"Not The Unborn either," I said, giving Caroline a smug smile. "It'll give Caroline nightmares."

"I think they'll all give Caroline nightmares," Elena added, grabbing a can of coke but pointed to the last film in Bonnie's hand. "I guess it's The Descent then."

"I'm gonna make a hot chocolate before the film starts, does anyone want one?" I asked, climbing off the sofa, and rolling my eyes as they all raised their hands. "Care, come help with the snacks."

She groaned but climbed to her feet following me into the kitchen. She knew I was giving Elena time to talk to Bonnie without either of us there, ignoring the fact that Caroline could here. We knew she wouldn't let it out because Caroline was there considering how close we were.

I was surprised that Elena hadn't blamed me for stealing her friend.

Caroline went about cooking the popcorn while I poured the milk and chocolate powder into a pan and set it on the hob. We worked around each other, her grabbing bowls for the popcorn and me getting out the tall, glass cups for the hot chocolate. I even had toppings for the drinks and popcorn.

"Hey, Care, do you think we should—"

I was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

I froze and turned to Caroline in concern.

No one besides our small group knew where the house was, and Tyler, considering it was on the edge of the Lockwood estate and he stumbled across the house the other day. To be honest, he was following Caroline.

"I don't know who it is," I mumbled, taking a small step towards the door.

"Jenna or Jeremy?" Caroline supplied as she followed me. I shook my head and bit my lip as my fingers twitched as we approached the door.

"They have keys." Stopping in front of the door I glanced back at Caroline who gave me a nod and opened it. "What the hell," I muttered looking at the man as he waited patiently.

"Ethel Mikaelson?" he said, indicating to me as he handed me the flowers in his hand. "I was told you'd be here." He bent down and grabbed a hamper, stepping slightly into the house and giving it to Caroline before digging into his pocket and pulling out a flat, square box the size of my hand and placed it on top of the hamper. "Don't worry, I won't remember coming here."

And then he was gone.

Well, he didn't disappear. He climbed into his car and drove off, but he left us speechless.

"What just happened?" Caroline asked closing the door and dragging me back to the kitchen.

I gave a small shrug as I placed the flowers on the table, only just realising they were in a glass vase.

Caroline placed the square box on the island and started digging through the hamper, her eyes growing in excitement as she revealed a selection of pampering items. Candles, bubble bath, face masks, eye masks, body butter, and chocolate and sweets. There was even a cute little mug filled with items to make hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows.

"Here, there's a note," Care said handing me a thick envelope, her eyes dancing with curiosity.

_Ethel,_

_Don't forget about me, my Little Witch._

_Tell your blonde friend, Caroline, that the hamper is for her. I appreciate how she's attending to your needs while I'm not there._

_Enjoy the flowers and please wear my little gift._

_Yours always,_

_Your Dearest Husband_

_K x_

"I think I've just received a love letter from Klaus," I muttered frowning down at the letter before handing it off to Caroline. "This is weird. When does the big bad hybrid have time to write me love letters!"

"I think it's sweet," Caroline muttered her fingers running over the contents of the hamper.

"Caroline," I hissed snatching the letter and folding it back into the envelope. "He's the bad guy, remember. You're meant to hate him."

"Okay, I get that he's the evil one, but you're gonna be married to him for eternity. Perhaps you should accept his gifts and try to make this relationship work."

"You're only saying that because he sent you a hamper," I muttered, glancing to the front room and quickly rushed to the hob, where the milk was starting to bubble. I swiped it off the hob and mixed it, making sure the chocolate was stirred in properly.

"The flowers are beautiful." I glanced at the flowers and begrudgingly agreed with her. The sunflowers were standing proud and the mix with Shasta daisies and baby's breath. "Oh. My. God!" I turned back to her to see she'd opened the box and was holding the beautiful necklace inside. "Ethel …"

I understood why she trailed off.

The necklace was an exact replica of my family sigil. The same tree as the tattoo on the back of my neck.

The tree was made out of silver and hung delicately from a thin silver chain. Dotted around the tree branches were tiny emeralds, almost like they were representing leaves.

"You have to wear it!" she exclaimed, rushing over to me and clasping the necklace around my neck before I could protest.

"I'm not sure, Caroline," I muttered my fingers coming up to touch the necklace. It was weird but as soon as it was placed around my neck, I felt content.

"He's thought about this really hard, Effie. You have to wear it. And look at those flowers, surly they mean something too!"

"The sunflowers mean adoration and loyalty, whereas the daisies mean innocence, purity and new beginnings and the baby's breath mean everlasting, unconditional love." When you put it like that, Klaus was practically saying he wanted this new beginning to work because we were going to be together forever.

"See, he's loyal to you."

"I don't think you're getting it, Caroline." I turned to face her, my hand clasping the necklace like I was going to rip from my neck. "Why is he doing this? Of course, he's loyal to me, I'm a powerful witch that he married due to his own selfish reasons. He's just trying to play me so when he returns I'll be all lovesick and will do anything for him. I will not fall for this trap."

"Okay." Caroline flicked her eyes over my shoulder and flashed to the bowls of popcorn, a tight smile on her face. "I still think you should give him the benefit of doubt. He might just want this relationship to work. What else does he have?"

"I never expected you to be on his side, Carrie," I muttered as she walked out, knowing she would hear me.

Klaus didn't seem like the sort of person to romance someone. He was the sort of man that would just take what he wanted because women would no doubt throw themselves at him. All he had to do was smirk and people would be throwing themselves at his feet.

Why was he trying to romance me? I was already bound to him, there was no escaping him, so why did he feel the need to romance me?

This was still part of his game and I wasn't going to fall for it.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**I got all my information of flowers from 'The Language of Flowers' book. If anything is wrong with the meanings then please refer to the book.**

**Hope you enjoyed xx**


	17. Life Changing Moments

**Hello all,**

**I hope you're all doing okay.**

**I hope you're all enjoying this story. Please leave a review, I like hearing your thoughts.**

**Please enjoy and please stay safe.**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**LIFE CHANGING MOMENTS**

* * *

I wasn't sure what Caroline was feeding to her mum, but I was convinced that the blonde vampire had moved in with me. She was here all the time. She spent every night with me and had done since she found out Klaus was my husband.

Urgh.

I still shivered at the thought of that.

And it was starting to become less about the fact that he was my husband, and more because I was starting to get used to it. Like I could live the rest of my life content with him being my husband.

"We're going to be late!" Caroline called, running through the kitchen and grabbing hold of me as she pulled me to the door. She flung it open and we both frowned at the big shiny black Range Rover that was outside.

"I swear to god, if this is Klaus' idea of a gift, I will castrate him!" I hissed, marching over to the car and the note sticking in the window.

_Ethel,_

_I took your car for a ride as I didn't want to use mine. Might have killed someone inside it and got blood on the interior. Decided to burn it and bought you this as an apology._

_Sorry,_

_Love Dad x_

"He couldn't just say it to your face?" Caroline asked reading the note over my shoulder.

"He's been ignoring me since Stefan left," I told her, handing her the keys to drive the new car. "You can drive. It's too new and I don't want to crash it."

"Oh, geez, what if I break it?" She still took the keys and climbed in the car, starting the engine as I climbed in the passenger seat. "Would you have really castrated Klaus if he bought you the car?"

"Maybe."

I turned away from her ignoring the smile on her face as he turned up the radio at my obvious answer. She knew I wouldn't have done anything to Klaus. She knew he was growing on me.

"So … I saw you text Klaus yesterday." I snapped my head to her, seeing the smug smile as she drove through town to get the school.

"I was being polite."

"Yeah …"

"He text me first asking if I like the flowers and the necklace. It would be rude of me to ignore him," I argued, crossing my arms in defence as she slowly nodded her head as if she didn't believe me. "Caroline, he said he was keeping an eye on us. What does that even mean?"

"That he's concerned about his wife and wants to make sure you're staying safe while he's not here."

"Oh my god, has he compelled you?"

"What? No! I just think it's sweet that he has people watching over you," she muttered pulling into the school and turning to face me.

"I know you're the hopeless romantic, Care, but I'm not sure we're on the same page. Klaus killed Elena. He killed Luke. He turned Charlie against me and he probably compelled Stefan to leave with him." I grabbed my phone and ignored the buzzing as I glared at my best friend. "He wasn't going to give me the cure for Damon unless he got complete control over me. He's playing a game and you're falling for it!"

"If that's how you feel then why are you wearing his necklace, huh?" My hand went to the tree dangling around my neck as I became flustered. "How come I see you drawing him every night in the sunroom? You mutter his name in your sleep. You don't hate him like you want us to believe." She reached out and took my hand, preventing me from leaving. "It's okay to feel something for him, Effie, he's your husband even if you don't want to admit it."

"It's complicated, Caroline. I can feel him, here and here," I told her pointing at my head and then my heart. "It's like he's in the same room as me. Since the ceremony, our bond keeps growing and I'm not sure if I want him connected to me."

"It's a little late for that," she snorted, letting go of me as she caught someone standing outside, waiting. By the way her eyes lit up I could only assume that it was Tyler.

They weren't official yet, but their emotions were smothering me.

"Ethel, hey, do you mind if I talk to you?" Tyler asked, shifting nervously as he glanced between me and Caroline.

"Anything you need to say can be said in front of Care," I told him, not liking the way he was looking at me. He was too nervous and he was giving off a touch of fear too. If this was going to be some dramatic, devastating news I was gonna need Caroline to stick around.

"Okay, then perhaps we can go somewhere quiet?"

I shared a look with Caroline and we both climbed back into the car, gesturing for Tyler to follow. I didn't really want to go to school anyway.

"Where do you want to go?" Caroline asked, pulling out of the school lot and glancing back at Tyler through the hang-mirror.

"Anywhere, I guess," he grumbled looking out the window ignoring us both.

Ten minutes of complete silence as Caroline drove back to the cottage. It was starting to get to me. I wanted to delve into Tyler's mind and put myself out of my misery, but couldn't break that trust with Tyler.

"Let's get this over with," Caroline said leading us into the house and putting the kettle on. "Right, what do you need to talk about?" Thank god for Caroline and her obsession for taking over.

"I think you're my sister!" Tyler blurted. I was thankful that I wasn't drinking as I would have spat it all over him.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I found a few photos of you and there was one of your mother," he said, pulling out a stack of photos from his bag.

"How do you know what my mum looks like?" I asked, flipping through the photos, frowning when I saw my life starting from when I was a baby up until I turned sixteen.

"Caroline showed me a picture of you lot when you went to Disney."

"Why have you got these?" I wasn't sure why Tyler Lockwood had a bunch of my baby photos.

"They were in my dad's office. I've been going through his things and I found them in a locked drawer." Tyler tapped the photos and I caught one of my mum while she was pregnant.

There were a few of her through her pregnancy and the one Damon took of me when I was a newborn. She was holding me and there was a smile on her face. It was the first and last time she managed to hold me when I was that small.

"They argued a lot, my parents. Dad cheated on my mum when she found out she was pregnant with me. They hadn't been married for long, he said he wasn't ready for children. He admitted what he'd done and a few months later he told my mum that he had an affair and that the woman had gotten pregnant."

"Oh my god," I swear that could be Caroline's catchphrase. "Why didn't anyone know about this?"

"My dad promised that he wouldn't have anything to do with her anymore. Mum knew he was lying. He'd leave every month on business to London but mum knew he was going to see her." Tyler stopped as he took a moment, his jaw clenching as he ran his hand through his hair. "He left the day after I was born. Mum thought he was gone for good but he went to tell your mum that it was over. He wanted nothing to do with her."

"You were born on Valentine's," Caroline said, remembering the story I told her. "You were early."

"My mum got into a car accident after arguing with my biological dad. I was born early due to the accident," I explained to Tyler.

"When I turned fifteen, I overheard them talking. Mum was bringing up the affair and he admitted how he stayed in the loop. She already knew, having found a picture of you on your birthday. She asked him if he'd ever gone to see you, but he said he'd never laid eyes on you except for the photos."

"How long have you known?" I asked him, gathering the photos and putting them down in a pile.

"I found out last night. Mum admitted it to me when I questioned her about it," Tyler paused looking over at Caroline and then back to me. "She recognised you when you went to the Historical Tea Party. She broke a few plates that night apparently."

"What do you want to do about this, Tyler?" I wondered because there had to be a reason why he was here.

"You're my sister. I want you in my life as my sister," he said, taking my hand in his and giving it a squeeze. "I also wanted to talk to you about the family curse."

"He's a werewolf," Caroline muttered, her eyes widening as she looked at me. "That means you're a werewolf too!"

"It would explain why my mum made me promise not to kill anyone," I said, pulling away from Tyler and rising from the barstool. This was too stressful. How long had she known? Had she told Damon? Had he been hiding it from me my whole life too?

"Is this why she didn't want you having vampire blood?" Caroline asked weakly and my eyebrows raised at her words.

Would I have become a hybrid like Klaus if I had died with vampire blood in my system? Would I die or would I transition into a vampire? Would I then activate my curse if I killed someone? What would happen to me? What would happen to my magic?

"I'm already a hybrid," I told Caroline, indicating my magic. "A witch-werewolf hybrid."

"But you haven't activated your curse," Tyler argued, his hands clenching slightly at the thought.

"Not yet, but this is Mystic Falls. How long until someone else comes to kill us and I have to defend myself?" I wondered knowing how close I had been to dying because of Jonas. "I nearly died because of Jonas. I almost killed Klaus."

"Does Damon know?" Caroline bit her lip at the thought of my vampire father knowing my true parentage. Why would he have let me go through with killing Klaus if he knew what it would have done?

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

* * *

I stomped my way through the boarding house aware that Caroline and Tyler were on my heels.

They insisted they come with me, both worried something would happen. It wasn't like Damon was going to hurt me. Though, I wasn't sure if I was going to hurt him yet.

"Aren't you three supposed to be in school?" he drawled, as he slouched out the sofa in the parlour, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Did you know!" I snapped, ignoring him as he flicked his eyes between us. I stood with my arms crossed and relaxed as Caroline rested her hand on my shoulder.

"Know what?" he grumbled, sitting up as he took in the unimpressed look on my face.

"That my birth father was Richard Lockwood?"

Damon choked on the sip of bourbon he'd taken just before my words left my mouth. His eyes widened and he looked between me and Tyler in shock.

"What?"

"Did you know that Tyler was my brother? That I'm part werewolf?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, rising from the chair and setting his glass on the table. He took a step towards me, his hands held up to the ceiling to show he meant no harm.

"My father," I said, glancing at Tyler as he pulled out the stack of photos. "Did you know he was a Lockwood?"

"No," Damon replied, taking the stack of photos from Tyler and flicking through them. "Your mum told me it was some told me it was some Englishman." He paused on one of the photos and flipped it to show us. It was of me on my first birthday and I was wearing a cute floral outfit with a bow in my ginger hair. "I took this and sent it to your mum. She didn't trust herself around you. She'd just gone off the deep end after witnessing a bloody car crash. It reminded her of your birth and when she died."

"You really didn't know?" I asked, my voice dropping as I slouched in disappointment. I wasn't disappointed with him, more with my mum because she'd kept this hidden from me. Was she ever going to tell me or keep it hidden forever?

"I would have told you, you know that, Ethel," he said, handing the photos back to Tyler as he brought me into a hug. "I've learnt not to keep things from you. After everything you've done, your deal with Klaus, you deserve complete honesty from me."

"Then why have you been ignoring me since the full moon?" I questioned pulling out of his embrace and taking a step back to join Caroline. She hummed under her breath showing her agreement.

Damon scrunched up his face and turned back to grab his glass.

"I was pissed off."

"Why?"

"You went to Klaus to save me. What if he decided in return for the cure he wanted you to go with him? What if he wanted you dead in replace of me!" He was beyond angry. It had no doubt been growing for the last week and a half.

"He wouldn't have killed me, he wanted my magic. It's why he agreed to the binding ceremony. I can't use my magic against him and he knows none of you will kill him because I'd die too," I said, shifting slightly as he set his glare on me.

"Exactly, he knew we can't do anything about him because you're tied to him now! If he comes back here …" He shook his head and downed his bourbon before pouring himself another glass.

"We know he's gonna come back, Damon. To show off his hybrids and to dangle Stefan in our faces. That's the sort of man he is."

"And there's nothing we can do about it."

"Actually, I had a plan," I muttered, biting my lip as the three of them looked at me. "I found a potion in my grimoire. I think it might work on him."

"What does it do?" Caroline asked, moving to stand next to Damon as she looked down at me. God, she had her judgy face on.

"Due to his vampire and werewolf sides, it's going to take me a couple of months to brew it, but I'm positive it will work and I've got all the herbs and ingredients I need," I said, flicking my eyes to Tyler as he huffed in annoyance.

"You haven't told us what it does," he said, joining the two vampires as they ganged up on me.

"It'll put him in a deep sleep for at least a hundred years."

"And what does it do to you?" Caroline asked, raising her eyebrow as she watched how I avoided their eyes. "Ethel!"

"I'll go into a deep sleep with him, but you don't even need to have him drink the potion. I can drink it and it affects him too," I said quickly to prevent them from going against the idea.

"No, that's not … we're not … no," Damon finalised holding his hand up to stop me from arguing.

"It's one of the best ideas we've got. Look, at least let me make the potion. If we don't use it, we don't use it, but at least give it a chance."

"It's not completely out of the question," Caroline muttered weakly avoiding the looks Damon and Tyler sent her. "What? If he goes on a rampage at least we have a solution to give to him until we come up with something better." She had a point,

"I can even make a remedy for it. If you only want him out of the picture for a couple of weeks or a couple of months, you can revive us through the remedy," I supplied shrugging as Caroline nodded along.

"Fine, but we're not using it," Damon hissed leaving the parlour. He was muttering something about teenagers as he left.

"Hey! When did you take my car!" I shouted after him smiling when he zoomed out of my view.

* * *

Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Matt and Tyler were all waiting for me at the Grill as I joined them with Jeremy trailing behind me.

He'd been reluctant to join any of us since Bonnie brought him back from the dead and I felt something off about him.

"Jenna said you had something to tell us," Alaric said as he joined the table with the woman in question.

I glanced at Tyler, wondering if he wanted to tell them. It was after all his hometown and these were his friends before they were mine, It was his choice if we told people.

"We just found out that we're half-siblings," Tyler told them, gesturing between the pair of us in case they were confused as to who he was talking about.

"What?"

"No way!"

"Really?"

Realistic and expected reactions from Matt, Bonnie and Elena. Jeremy frowned at the information, his eyes flickering between Tyler and I. Alaric tubbed his hand over his jaw and shared a quick glance with Jenna.

"Oh my god, Damon told you, didn't he?" I accused, looking at the two adults as they looked at us sheepishly.

"He called on Monday night and asked us to come round," Jenna announced giving a small shrug. "He asked us what he was meant to do."

"He thinks you don't see him as your dad anymore," Alaric added, looking to Tyler and then back. "He thinks you want to become a Lockwood."

"Eww, no offence, Tyler," I muttered seeing his brows rise at my disgust. "I'm sorry but Richard didn't want anything to do with me. I'm not a Lockward. I'm not a Winters either. I'm a Salvatore."

Actually, I was a Mikaelson, but no one here beside Caroline needed to know that

"Does this make you a werewolf?" Jeremy asked, the frown on his face deepening as he looked at me.

"An untriggered one, yes," I told him before glancing at them all. "I don't plan on triggering the curse either so if I could have all your help in preventing that, it would be appreciated."

"Would you still be a witch if you triggered it?" Matt wondered, a curious look on his face. Bonnie seemed intrigued by the idea but I shook my shoulders in response. How was I supposed to know?

"That's actually a good question, I might ask Charlie to find out for me." I paused as I thought about Charlie. I could vaguely remember him mentioning something about my biological father and needing to tell me something. Wait. Did he know? Was he going to tell me about my dad and the werewolf curse? Why didn't he?

"Ethel? Are you okay?" Caroline asked, nudging my shoulder with hers as she pulled me into the booth next to her.

I gave a slight nod of my head, but pulled my phone out and sent a text to my cousin. If he knew and didn't tell me, I'd be pissed with him.

"Are you going to the party Friday night?" Matt asked, leaning over Elena to talk to me. I shrugged, not sure if I wanted to go partying with them. It would be nothing like the club we went to in Florida, but Caroline had told me about some of the parties they'd thrown,

"No she's not," Tyler interjected, cutting me off before I could reply to Matt.

"What? Why not?" I asked glancing at my brother - that was going to take some time to get used to.

"I'm not letting my sister go to some party where teenage hormonal boys would grope her any chance they got," he replied, setting his hands on the table as if it was obvious.

"I'm going," I said, sharing a look with Elena, Bonnie and Caroline.

"Definitely," the three of them agreed as we all shared the same smirk that caused Tyler to hang his head and huff in annoyance.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	18. Struggle

**I've never done a trigger warning before, but I feel I have to do one for this chapter. Please be aware that there are scenes of sexual assault within this chapter.**

**If you are uncomfortable with this, I understand if you chose to discontinue reading this story.**

**I'm not going to make it all fluffy and cute. It's not any of that. I am sorry if this touches anyone, please read my endnotes when you finish with this chapter if you choose to read.**

**Sorry for any mistakes. Excuse the title. I spent five minutes trying to come up with something and this was the only thing I could think of. It sucks, I know.**

**Thank you, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**STRUGGLE**

* * *

Tyler had spent the last two days trying to change my mind about going to the party tonight.

Ever since he was adamant that I couldn't go to the part when we were at the Grill, Caroline had been planning my outfit for the party. She demanded she was doing my hair and make-up and she had even given me a shower time slot with a list of things I was meant to do. Shave at this time, wash hair at this time.

She was a little crazy but I loved her.

"Urgh, I hate your hair," she scoffed as I walked to join her in my bedroom.

"Caroline," I whined knowing she didn't mean it.

"Look at those curls! They're so perfect. Urgh, I was gonna straighten it but I might do a fishtail instead." She grabbed hold of my shoulders and pushed me onto the bench in front of the vanity. "I'm just going to highlight your eyes with a bit of eyeliner and give you a mice browny-red lipstick. It must be exhausting being beautiful."

"I don't know, how do you sleep at night?" I teased looking at her in the mirror. She poked her tongue out and started braiding my hair, a thoughtful look on her face. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Tyler?"

"Nothing."

"You answered a bit too quickly then, Care. Have you two had the talk yet?"

"I think it's too soon, what with Matt and all," she grumbled, sighing deeply as she thought about her ex.

"Caroline, Matt knows about our world now, he cares about you but he doesn't want to be with you. Tyler does. It's not that hard to be with someone you care about, especially since Matt didn't want you." I gave her a pointed look in the mirror. She'd been distraught about Matt, but if Tyler felt half as much about Caroline that she does about him, then why shouldn't she pursue it? "If he cares about you, why not go for it? Stop holding back."

"I could say the same to you," she muttered, tugging my hair lightly as I glared at her.

"It's different with Klaus. You've grown up with Tyler, you have this connection of all these childhood memories. You know him." I shrugged as I thought about Klaus. "I knew Klaus for a total of two, maybe three days. He turned our lives upside down. I'm bound to him for life now and I hardly know the man. Take this chance with Tyler because you might not be able to in the future. I can't ever be with anyone else. Well, not unless I want to experience extreme pain and discomfort."

"You should give him a chance then," she said and I had to wonder what went through her head.

"Caroline, you do understand that he's the bad guy."

"You know what? I'm getting fed up with this pity party you're throwing yourself. You knew what going through with the ceremony meant. You knew you'd be bound to Klaus for life, so why are you acting like it was forced on you?" Caroline stepped away from me, throwing her hands down in her annoyance. She was huffing as she tried to regain control of her emotions but I could tell something was bothering her. "You don't know him so why do you feel you can judge him? I don't believe he was born evil, people never are, our circumstances make us who we are. He's just misunderstood and people use that against him."

She had a point.

Hadn't Elijah told Elena that their father Mikael used to beat Klaus? Hadn't his father turned against him when he found out their mother had cheated and conceived Klaus by another man?

"Okay, I get it. I don't know him so I shouldn't judge." I spun to face her, resting my back against the vanity. "You know about everything Caroline, the bond, the marriage, no one else does. When they find out they will blame it on him."

"You need to tell them then! If you want them to stop seeing him as this evil man, you need to tell them what you did. Yeah, sure he might have agreed to it because of the power, but coming from the life he had, being cursed so he couldn't be his true self, you'd want to have a powerful witch at your side to prevent that from happening again."

"You have too big a heart, Caroline," I muttered rising from the bench and over to the outfit she had laid out for me.

She cared about everyone, even Klaus whom she was meant to hate, but she was willing to give him a chance after he was sweet to me. He was trying. I could give him that.

I got the feeling he didn't know how to be sweet. He didn't really seem like the sort of man that needed to entrap the love of someone through kind gestures and gifts.

"Let's not talk about this now," I said, taking the blue dress and pulling it over my head. "It gets you angry with me and I hate it when you're angry."

"I only get angry because you're being stupid," she replied, throwing the cute brown boots at me.

"Caroline!" I snapped dodging the boots as she rolled her eyes. She was dressed wearing some black skinny jeans and a lovely blouse and grey cardigan covering it. "Is Tyler picking us up?" I asked as I pulled on some mustard yellow socks that matched the thick knitted cardigan I was wearing.

"Yep. He wants to keep an eye on you." I snorted at her remark knowing how Tyler was going to be tonight.

Since Matt mentioned the party on Wednesday, Tyler had been trying to convince me it wasn't a good idea to go. Did he really think I was going to miss out because he wanted me to stay at home? If Caroline was going, surely he knew I'd go too, especially considering she'd practically moved in.

"Hey, Care, can I ask you something?" I muttered, tucking my phone into my cardigan pocket.

"Sure," she said, her voice muffled as she held a hair grip between her teeth as she twisted the front of her hair.

"Is everything okay with you and your mum? Is just that you've been wherever I am since the ritual. Not that it bothers me, you can stay here if you like, it's just …" I left it unfinished giving a small shrug as if to explain.

"She finds it hard, ya know, having a vampire for a daughter. After she shot Jeremy and he died, she kind of accepted it, but it makes her uncomfortable. She doesn't mind me being at the house, but I know she can't help but be on edge," Caroline explained, giving me a sad smile as she thought about her mum. "I know she loves me, but it's best if I'm not there."

"You know you always have a home here, Care," I told her, bringing her into a hug. We pulled back when there was toot from outside, signalling that Tyler was here.

"Come on, let's introduce you to your first Mystic Falls party!"

* * *

As cliche as it seemed, the party was just as I imagined it would be and was like every film I'd seen about American teenagers.

The bonfire, the kegs, the teenagers. It was too much for me. Did people really enjoy this sort of thing?

And drinking? It wasn't as fun as they made it out to be. The beer sucked and it wasn't as good as the boys were bragging about.

"Hey, you came with Tyler and Caroline. Ethel Salvatore, right?" a boy asked coming up to my side, a smile on his face. I nodded slowly taking in the dark brown eyes and curly hair that framed his face. "I'm Tyler's friend, Aiden. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, I'm obviously Ethel. I'm Tyler's half-sister," I introduced feeling it necessary to add it on seeing as Tyler was going around telling everyone.

"Aren't you Stefan's sister too?" Yep, that was meant to be what was going around.

"Turns out Tyler's dad was my real dad. I'm Stefan's half-sister through our mum," I told him, knowing no one was ever going to find out. No one had seen my mum when she came to visit and if she comes back, I'm sure we can say she's my sister or a cousin or something.

"Life seems a little complicated for you," Aiden muttered, running his hand over his head. "Can I get you a drink or something?"

"I'm not a drinker, but thank you for the offer."

"Hey, let me introduce you to the guys." I raised my eyebrows at his easy going behaviour. "I ain't interested in you, not that you ain't hot, I've got a girl. I'm just trying to look out for you, you're alone and I've seen a few people looking your way."

"Oh, umm, thank you I guess," I muttered following him as he led me to a group of his friends.

There was a mix of girls and boys and I could recognise Dana as she cuddled with her boyfriend.

"Hey, you're friends with Elena and Bonnie, right?" Dana said as I joined them.

"Yeah, and Caroline," I replied feeling awkward as they all stared at me. It's not like I was completely new. I'd been here for about six weeks.

"Well, get your party on girl!" One of the boys shouted, hooting as he raised his cup in the air. I rolled my eyes and turned to Aiden, seeing a pretty brunette tucked under his arm.

"Ethel this is my girl, Katie," he introduced, waving between us. Katie gave me a small smile and grabbed a can from the floor by her feet. I was surprised when she handed it to me and I saw it was a can of soda.

"I'm not a drinker either, Aiden told me you don't like to drink," she explained, seeing the surprise on my face.

"Thank you," I replied, placing the cup of beer on the floor and opening the soda. "I'm not used to parties like this." I waved around feeling too overwhelmed by everything.

"You'll get used to it, especially if you're Tyler's sister." It seemed news travelled fast around here.

* * *

A couple of hours later, I was laughing with Katie as she told me about a date that went bad with Aiden.

I spent most of my night with her and occasionally had Caroline and Tyler checking in on me. They weren't very subtle about it. They'd even conned Matt and Bonnie to check in on me and I was sure Elena was watching me from across the bonfire. Weird, but I bet Tyler had bribed them all into doing it.

"I think I'm gonna head home," I muttered to Katie, holding my hand over my mouth as I stifled a yawn.

"Are you sure? Do you need a lift?" Katie asked, grabbing my arm as she stopped me from leaving the group.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I told her, giving her a soft smile as she let go of me. She looked unsure about leaving me but I nodded over to Caroline and Tyler who were talking over by the bonfire. "I think I'll ask Tyler to take me home."

I walked over to them but paused halfway there as Tyler pulled Caroline into a kiss. Well, there went my ride home. I didn't want to interrupt their moment, it had been building for a while now.

Turning my back to them I headed for the road, knowing if I followed it, I'd have a better chance of getting home without getting lost.

I bypassed Matt, who was holding the hair of some poor girl as she threw up next to him. I couldn't see Bonnie or Elena so I guess they headed home a while ago. Bonnie was probably worried about Jeremy who'd been kind of giving her the cold shoulder.

It was nice being out this late, the only sounds were the crackling bonfire and the small chatter of the youth. There was also the distance chirping of the forest creatures, the usual nature sounds mixing with sounds of jovial fun.

I glanced down at my phone trying to find out what time it was when something hard collided with my head.

"Argh," I grunted, falling to the floor and losing my phone as it slipped from my grasp. Glancing over my shoulder I caught sight of one of the guys Aiden introduced me to. I think his name was Colton or Carson or something.

"Where you goin'," he slurred, clearly intoxicated. He dropped the bottle he had in his hand and it hit me then, literally, that he had used it to knock me down. I guess he was hoping it would knock me out. "I gotta 'ave fun with you."

I didn't have time to answer as he pounced on me. His hands pushed me to the ground, my face shoved into the dirt. I had mud in my mouth and I could feel tiny stones and twigs scratching against my skin. My right eye began to throb as it collided with a pointy edge of a stone.

I gasped as he fiddled with the bottom of my dress, his cold fingers dragging up my bare legs as he muttered to himself.

"Stop, please," I cried, struggling to push myself off the floor. His body was pressing down on me, the weight of his upper body trapping me.

My chest was being forced further into the ground as he fiddled by my lower back. My throat grew thick as I heard his belt buckle coming loose and I didn't have to be facing him to know what he was doing.

"Please," I sobbed tears clouding my vision as I tried to fight down the bile that started to rise in my throat. My muscles were tenses and my legs were locking into place as he shifted behind my, his hands reaching down and grabbing my hips.

I reached behind me and hit at him, fighting both him and the panic growing in my stomach. I was getting dizzy, the edges of my vision turning black as my mind and body tried to shut down.

His rough hands twisted my arm and I heard and felt a pop. His fingers slipped up my arm and roughly gripped my chin tugging it towards him at an uncomfortable angle. I feared he'd snap my neck as he forced me to face him as he bent down and shoved his rough, chapped lips against mine.

I choked on my vomit as it sped up my throat and groaned as a searing pain shot through my chest. The magic of the bonding ceremony was trying to work, preventing the chance of me breaking my promise to Klaus.

He pulled away, a trail of his saliva dropping over my cheek as he grabbed the back of my neck and shoved my face into the dirt. My nose crunched as he broke it with his force, blood and vomit mixing in my mouth as I dug my fingers into the dirt.

I needed to do something.

I reached out for my magic and wept as it hit a barrier. What was wrong with it? Why wasn't it working?

Blinking back my tears, I gritted my teeth as I felt his hands reaching up the backs of my thighs to pull down my knickers. As his fingers grabbed hold of the elastic I screamed out, gagging on my vomit.

"Shut up!" he snapped, grabbing hold of my shoulder and turning me to face him.

His fist connected with my face as I continued to scream and I stifled a moan as the inside of my mouth scraped against my teeth. His face turned red and he shifted above me so he was straddling me. More bile rose in my mouth as I felt his erection pressing against my stomach. This was turning him on. Beating me up, trapping me against the floor as he tried to force himself on me, was turning him on.

His fingers wrapped against my throat and I brought my hands up to his, clawing at his as he pushed down. I tried to shake him off, my legs sliding in the dirt as I struggled under him.

He leaned down, spitting in my face as I gasped for breath feeling myself grow weaker under him.

"Hey!"

I recognised that voice.

I choked and coughed as the weight was lifted off me and I glanced to the blonde blur in the corner of my eyes to see Caroline standing over the boy, blood covering her mouth.

"Ethel!" I glanced at Tyler, flinching and curling in on myself as he drew closer. Caroline was blocking him within a second, hiding me from his view.

"Don't, Tyler," she warned, raising a hand to stop him.

"She's my sister, Caroline," he hissed trying to get around her as I whimpered on the floor.

"She's just been sexually assaulted. I don't care if you're her brother. You're not going near her!" she snapped, pushing him away before crouching down in front of me. "Hey, I'm here. I'm here," she whispered, wiping her cheeks as she reached out to me slowly.

I grabbed hold of her hand, tugging it into me as she pulled me into her arms. I buried my head in her chest, hiding my face away from Tyler's eyes.

"I-I-I … I can-can't breathe," I blubbered finding it hard ot gain my breath as my chest tightened around ever drop of air I took in.

"Shh, I got you. You're safe," she cried, trembling against me as she rocked us slowly. "Tyler, call Jenna and Alaric. Tell them what happened. We need to go to the hospital."

"No. No, Caroline. Don't take me there. I don't want to go. Please," I begged, pulling back to look at her. Shaking her head, her lips pursed as she cried silently.

"We have to," she sniffed, running her hands through my messy hair and she bit her lip. "Tyler you need to call my mom and ask her to meet you here."

"What are you doing?" He asked as Caroline rose, holding me against her chest.

"I'm taking her to the hospital."

"Please, Caroline," I cried, clutching onto her shoulders as she ignored me. "I don't want to go." My voice was cracking and through my sobs, I sounded like a child fighting to stay up late. "I don't want to go."

* * *

**I found this chapter hard to write.**

**When writing the scene were Ethel is attacked I actually started to feel sick and needed a break before continuing. Just imagining this happening to someone is so disgusting to me, I was actually in tears writing this scene.**

**A lot of you may be wondering why I decided to write a scene and I have to be honest and say part of my doesn't know why.**

**When I write, I often 'leave' everything around me and disappear into this world that just writes whatever goes with the story and helps build the plot and character. I'm not saying in any way that this scene was included to build on the plot. I feel extremely strongly about this subject and while I personally haven't been in this position, I have had experience with unwanted attention and know people that have also experienced it.**

**I am sorry if this triggered anything with any of you. I have posted a warning above the chapter, but if any of you wish to talk about it, I am a very good listener. If not, I don't believe I will be writing any more scenes like this, though there may be effects due to what Ethel ahs experienced.**

**I am sorry if this has upset any of you. Please know that I understand that some people don't like situations like this, but I try to make my writing show realistic experiences and unfortunately for some, this is a real experience.**

**As I mentioned early, I don't have experience with this situation, but I have experienced similar situations that have shaped the person I am today.**

**After all that, I hope you don't see me as some twat.**

**My heart is out there for anyone that needs my love and please remember I'm always here to talk.**


	19. Corruption Of The Mind

**How did you feel about the last chapter?**

**We get a little bit of Klaus in this chapter - though I doubt it will be enough. I really can't wait for him to come back to Mystic Falls, but unfortunately, we have to wait like in the show.**

**Please forgive me for any mistakes and please enjoy.**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**CORRUPTION OF THE MIND**

* * *

Have you ever experienced that moment when you're in your body, but you're also having an out of body experience? Like at this moment, I could feel my fingers brushing against my hands. I could see it, but I couldn't make the connection that it was happening in my head.

I was aware that Jenna and Caroline were in the hospital room with me and I could hear Damon and Alaric arguing in the hall but I wasn't aware of them.

I felt lost. I felt confused.

Who was I?

Why was I here? Not here in the hospital, but here on earth? I was gifted with my magic but when I needed it the most it had failed to protect me.

After everything we'd all been through in the last couple of weeks, why did it feel like this was the thing to finish me? I'd died. Jonas had killed me and I'd managed to come back. Was it cruel to be brought back? If I had stayed dead then I wouldn't have been trapped in my own mind wishing I was dead.

"I should have died," I muttered, aware that the silence grew at my soft words.

The door slammed open and Damon stormed in. His eyes were red and his hair was in disarray. As he glared down at me, black veins wiggled under his eyes and he bared his teeth at me.

"Don't you dare say that!" he snapped, grabbing hold of my shoulders and forcing me into the bed.

Caroline pushed him away, standing in front of me protectively as she hissed at him. I was surprised to see both Alaric and Jenna with stakes - perhaps it was more Jenna holding one than Alaric.

"Stay away from here," Caroline warned, vamping out on him as he took a threatening step towards her.

"It's alright, Care," I whispered looking at her and shaking my head.

It was strange, but as Damon touched me, I hadn't thought about the boy, _Carter_ , that had assaulted me.

I couldn't explain it, but when Tyler tried to approach me I had been scared. My body had gotten ready to run. It was the same when Alaric had arrived with Jenna. I tensed as he entered the room and Jenna had ushered him out. She warned him to keep Damon out too when he arrived, so this was the first time I'd seen him in the three hours we'd been here.

"I need my dad," I cried, my lips trembling as I sobbed, reaching out for him. "Daddy." I was engulfed in his embrace, his fingers combing through my loose hair as he pressed a kiss to my head.

"I'm here," he muttered, his voice croaking as he held me tighter to him. "I've got you."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I bawled wiping at my face as snot ran down my nose.

"You have nothing to apologise for," he demanded, pulling back and looking down at me. "This is not your fault." He brushed his thumbs under my eyes, wiping my tears away as he bent, capturing my eyes with his. "Do you understand? This isn't your fault."

I nodded, biting my lip as I glanced over his shoulder at Caroline who was crying. She wiped furiously at her face taking the tissue Alaric offered her. Jenna was in a similar mess, her face blotched red as she sobbed into Alaric's shoulder.

"I want to go home," I muttered feeling my lips tremble again.

"We can get that sorted," Jenna said, her voice muffled by her tears. "You don't need any test. They set your nose and your arm isn't broken, just bruised and twisted. I'll pick up your pain killers and then we'll head back."

"Where is home?" Damon asked, running his hand through my hair as he placed a kiss on my cheek, careful of the bruise.

"The cottage. It's the safest place," I whispered, chewing my lip in thought. No one besides family knew where it was and Caroline was the only vampire invited in. "I want to be closer to mum."

Damon nodded as if he understood that and slowly rose from the bed. He brushed his hand over my face, careful of the cuts and bruises and gave me a sad smile.

"Did you want me to call her?" I shook my head. I didn't want her knowing about this, not when she had more important things to deal with. Not that I was saying I wasn't important, but she was hunting a vampire that was trying to kill me.

I'd say that was pretty important and I didn't want her getting distracted from that. I'd call her in a day or two once I'd settled back at home and could go two minutes without fearing I'd be helpless again.

* * *

Caroline tucked me into bed when we got home. Jenna made a mug of hot chocolate and the two assured me they were in the house if I needed them. And then they left.

Thankfully Caroline seemed to have some sense and she made sure both the lamps on the bedside table were one before she turned off the main light. I didn't want to think about how I would have reacted to being trapped in the dark, left to my thoughts.

I lost track of time as I lay curled up against my pillows, the duvet tucked in around me as I gazed out of the window.

I didn't want to sleep. It was the last thing on my mind. I couldn't help but think about how close I was to losing myself tonight. What would have happened if Caroline didn't stop him? Did she kill him? Would I have killed him if my powers worked?

The buzzing of my phone took my mind away from my thoughts and I brought the phone up to my ear muttering a weak hello. It was probably Damon checking up on me. He'd already left five messages and insisted he was a call away if I needed him.

"I experienced a rather unpleasant feeling this evening, love." My heart fluttered at the sound of Klaus' voice. I shifted on the bed, bringing the fluffy throw closer as I gripped it in my fingers. "I waited for you to call, but the suspense was getting to me. Who was he?"

He knew what the pain was. He thought I cheated on him.

"I-I, Klaus," I sobbed, feeling myself losing control over the box I'd built around my emotions. "I-I didn't … he touched me … I didn't … I'm sorry, I—"

"Love? What happened?" I cried down the phone, clutching hold of it as if it was a life raft stopping me from drawing. I couldn't get my words out. They were being crushed under the torment of this evening. I'd been too weak to protect myself. "Ethel, what happened."

"We were at a party," I told him, the sharpness in his voice shocking me and calming me slightly. It was the same thing that happened with Damon. I should have been scared of the anger in his voice, but it had the opposite effect on me. "I didn't drink." I don't know why it was important to tell him that. Perhaps I didn't want him to blame me. "I was leaving and he snuck up behind me. He hit me with a bottle. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me to the ground. I-I-I …"

"Shh, sweetheart, shh. Where are you now?"

"At the cottage," I whispered curling in on myself as Klaus' anger vibrated through me. It seemed the connection between us grew when our emotions were unstable.

"Are you alone?"

"No, Caroline and Jenna are with me."

"What happened to the boy. Did he … did he hurt you?" The hesitant way he said it brought a small smile to my lips. It was clear there was concern coming from him and it was mixed with his disgust and fury.

"Caroline stopped him … I … I don't know if she killed him, Klaus," I cried, my hands shaking at the thought of someone dying because of me.

"I hope she did," he seethed and I could hear that he had his teeth clenched. "If he's still alive he will wish he was dead."

"I think … I think she killed him," I told him remembering the blood on her face. If she ripped into his neck, then I couldn't imagine him surviving for long.

"Did he," Klaus paused and cleared his throat. I could hear something moving in the background and Klaus cleared his throat again. "Did he touch you?"

"No, not really. Caroline stopped him before he could … you know," I muttered feeling my body begin to tense as I dwelled on the potential damage Carter could have done.

"Remind me to thank Caroline for everything she's done for you," he said and I smiled in agreement.

I owed Caroline a lot. If she wasn't there watching out for me then I would be in a worse place than I was now.

"Will you stay with me? On the phone?" It was a lot to ask, considering who he was. He could say no, but I was hoping he'd give in to me considering how my night went. "At least until I fall asleep."

"Of course, love. I'll stay with you."

* * *

Jenna made me breakfast in bed and brought along a side of painkillers for my previously broken nose and the scrapes on my face.

She gave me a watery smile as she ate her toast beside me, her shoulder brushing against mine as she turned on the telly hanging from the wall. She put on a Disney film, neither of us really paying attention to it.

"Caroline's going to run you a bath. She found some of your healing herbs and she's insisting that you have a long soak and cast a spell to help you heal," Jenna said, breaking the silence we had settled in.

"I don't think my magic's working," I muttered, shifting so I rested against her, my head resting on her chest.

"Why do you think that?" she asked, wrapping her arm around me and playing with my hair.

"I tried to use it last night, but it didn't come to me. I wanted to fight back, Jenna, I really did, but my magic didn't want to help me." I stopped and went over a thought that had been rolling around in my head since speaking to Klaus last night. "Do you think I'm being punished for binding myself to Klaus?"

"I don't think that. I think that sometimes bad things happen to good people," she pressed her lips against my head. "It's not all a loss though, Effie. You survived it and I know it's going to take some time but you're strong enough to fight, but I know it's only if you want to."

"I do want to, Jenna. I don't want to feel weak anymore. I don't ever want to feel the way I did last night," I cried, snuggling closer to her. "I hurt Tyler last night. I flinched away from him when he came to me."

"It's understandable, Effie and Tyler loves you. He knows you didn't mean it." She wrapped both arms around me pulling me closer to her warmth. "He's been downstairs with Caroline since six this morning. He wants to see you but Caroline told him he had to wait until you woke."

"He's here?" I asked, noting the strain in my voice as I thought about Tyler waiting for me. We'd only known we were siblings for about a week now, but it felt like I'd known my whole life.

"Yep, you want me to send him up while I sort your bath?"

"Yeah, please," I said, shifting in the bed as she got up and grabbed our plates. I moved the blankets around me trying to make myself seem somewhat presentable. As Jenna left I grabbed the remote and turned the channel over on to some stupid romance Caroline would have loved.

I got caught up in the romance, following the main character as she pushed her way through a crowd to chase the love of her life when a knock on the door interrupted the corruption I was going through.

"Hey," Tyler said leaning on the door frame as he gave me a gentle smile. "Caroline said I wasn't allowed to come in unless you said so."

"You can come in," I told him, waving him over. He came into the room, his eyes flicking to the telly and his nose scrunching up at the character kissing her true love. He settled at the bottom of my bed, coming into the room but keeping his distance at the same time.

"Caroline said she heard you crying throughout the night." Good old Tyler just getting straight to the point. "Did you … did you have nightmares?"

"I did, but you don't have to worry, Tyler. Jenna told me I'm strong enough to fight this and I have my family with me." I shuffled down the bed until I could reach out and touch his hand. It made my stomach flip and my throat dry but I pushed through the struggle. This was Tyler. This was my brother, he wasn't going to hurt me. "I'm not okay but I can get past this."

I felt like I was assuring everyone else rather than myself. It was like they needed to hear it more than me.

"If you need anything—"

"I know where you are. I know," I cut him off giving him a forced smile as I slid from the bed. "I'm going to have my bath. You can wait downstairs with Caroline if you want."

Noticing my dismissal, Tyler gave a slight nod and I grabbed my phone, going into the bathroom. I was surprised to see a bath waiting for me, but could vaguely remember Jenna talking about the bath.

* * *

_Click. Click. Click._

Jenna flashed her eyes to my hands, settling them on my nail as I flicked them together.

It was her idea to get me out of my room and she thought it would be good to have a movie night and invited Jeremy and Elena round. Caroline as always was here, snuggled up to my side, her head resting on my shoulder. Sometimes it felt like Caroline was an extension of myself, always there no matter what.

It was beginning to irritate me.

At first, it was nice because it showed she cared, but now it felt like she was afraid to leave me alone.

It was as if there was an unspoken agreement between the four of them where no one mentioned what happened last night and it was driving me mad. If they didn't want to talk about it, fair enough, but if they were doing it to protect me from the horrors of dreams then they were too late. If they weren't going to talk about it they could at least stop looking at me as if I would break if they looked away.

"I'm getting a drink," I muttered pushing Caroline away softly as I climbed from the sofa. I gave Jenna one last glance before making my way into the kitchen and grabbing the milk from the fridge.

It was relaxing and it helped clear my mind from all the buzzing of my wayward thoughts. Following steps made it easier to move forwards. Pouring the milk into a pan and letting it boil was the easiest step. The second step would take a little time, but I could find something while I waited for my milk to be ready.

While I waited I looked at the flowers Klaus had sent me last Saturday. Had it already been a week since he sent me flowers? Had it been two since we married?

The flowers were still beautiful but they'd entered that stage where they were dropping and drying out. The white of the daisies had started to turn brown at the tips and the sunflowers seemed less bright. It was really sad, but I felt like I could compare myself to the flowers. Once full of brightness and now coming to an end.

The doorbell ringing broke my morbid thoughts.

Caroline was in the kitchen within seconds, her eyes wide as she glanced at me. This felt familiar.

"I don't know who it is," I told her, shrugging as I turned back to my milk, taking it off the burner as I quickly added the chocolate powder, stirring it in.

"I'll get it then," she grumbled, moving to the door and answering it. I couldn't hear what was being said but glanced up at her to see a bouquet of flowers in one arm and a light blue box in the other. "Any guesses who sent these?"

I didn't need to guess because I already knew.

It seemed Klaus was going to be sending weekly flowers on Saturday. Was this his way of being cute and romantic?

The flowers were a mix of carnations, and some of that greenery you see to make it look nice. I wasn't an expert in flowers, I didn't know the names of everything. I just knew that carnations were a traditional flower for mother's day because they meant to represent love and admiration.

"Cute flowers," Caroline teased, setting them down on the island and reaching out to take the old flowers from the vase. "Open that." She was indicating the blue box and as I slid it over, I noticed how heavy it was. No doubt Caroline was intrigued by what was inside.

Pulling the dark blue bow from the box, I left the silk slid through my hands as I lifted the lid from the box.

"What is it?" she asked, seeing the smile on my face.

Answering her question I started pulling the items from the box. There was a tin of pencils and as an artist, you could never have too many pencils. There was a tin of watercolour paint and a tin of acrylic paint. A collection of paintbrushes and two new notebooks of different sizes. There was also a leather case which held graphic pens, the sizes of the pen tip ranging from very thin to thick.

"They look expensive," Caroline muttered, her fingers running over the supplies as I started placing them back in the box.

"They're some of the most expensive," I told her, grabbing the note that had been with the flowers as Caroline handed it to me.

_Hello Sweetheart,_

_The carnations are because you are admired and loved. Never forget that._

_I added the art supplies because I found that letting things out through canvas or paper can be uplifting. You're exquisite at it and I admire your pieces. I truly appreciated the portrait you did of me._

_I may have taken it_ _in the morning._

_Remember, I'm yours. Whatever you need._

_Klaus x_

"Can you believe he puts little kisses on the end of his notes," I mumbled my thumb brushing over his kiss. "He's a little sappy."

"You spoke to him last night." She didn't phrase it as a question because she knew I did. She was probably checking in on me and overheard me talking to him. "He called me off Stefan's phone."

"What? What did he say?" I was surprised at this. Why hadn't she told me before now?

"He wanted to thank me for being there for you. He wished he was here in my place but is thankful I'm here with you." See what I meant. He was being sappy. What happened to his usual 'let's-murder-someone' attitude?

"That was ... kind of him." What was I meant to say to that?

"It's cute."

"Yes, Caroline, I understand that you think Klaus is cute with the way he acts. Perhaps you would like his attention?"

"Oh, no, please don't hand this over to me. I quite enjoy watching you fall in love with him a little more each week."

"You can't fall in love with someone within two weeks, Care."

"Psshh, don't tell me that," she grumbled and I laughed at the grumpy look on her face. "I swore I fell in love with Stefan within five minutes of meeting him."

"Gosh, Caroline," I laughed, swiping at the sides of my eyes as they watered. "I do love you."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	20. Dreams and Calls

**Just a short one today.**

**Hopefully, I can find a way to move on in the next couple of chapters and make it flow without doing dramatic and annoying time jumps.**

**Please enjoy this chapter and sorry for any mistakes and all. Sorry about the sucky title.**

**I'm also returning to work on Wednesday - only for three days a week, but it might delay my updates a bit xx**

**Loves ya all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**DREAMS AND CALLS**

* * *

I was lying in a field full of wildflowers, the sun shining down on my face and the birds tweeting as they flew through the trees. It was relaxing and felt like I was in another world.

Everything seemed brighter, the colours were so vivid and the smells were stronger. The wind blowing against my skin was tickling me and some strands of my hair fell from my bun, framing my face.

"You look divine, my love." I smiled at Klaus' voice, turning my head toward him. I felt his breath fan across my face, leaning towards him until his lips brushed mine. His hands slipped around my waist, pulling me towards his warmth as he rested his chin on top of my head. "Sleep, my love, you need it."

"Hmm," I mumbled, turning in his arms until my head was resting on his chest. I fell asleep to his fingers running through my hair and his voice lulling me as he talked about his day.

A frozen touch woke me and I gasped as I sat up, looking around frantically. I was still in the field but it was dark and cold.

Rising to my feet I glanced around nervously as a howl broke through the trees. My heart jumped wildly at the sound and my eyes floated to the sky and focused on the full moon.

"That's not good," I muttered moving out of the field and towards the trees. It didn't seem like a good idea to walk into the forest but considering it surrounded the field, it was my only way to safety.

The further into the forest I walked the more anxious I grew. The hairs on my arms stood on end and the back of my neck prickled. The stereotypical signs that something was going to happen.

A twig snapped behind me. As cliche as it was, I had the feeling I was living in a horror movie. Was this a dream? It felt like a dream.

Something hard bumped into my shoulder and I fell to my knees as a young boy ran past me. He turned to face me but his eyes were on something behind me, his eyes growing wide with fear.

"Wh—"

A large grey wolf jumped over my head and landed on the boy, its teeth ripping into his shoulder. The boy screamed out, falling to the floor as another wolf joined and tore into him.

"No!"

I shuffled away from the wolves as three more joined them and turned to the voice recognising it.

My eyes had barely locked with Klaus when a hand grabbed hold of my shoulder.

I gasped, struggling out of the hold when I fell.

I jerked myself awake and rested my hand over my heart as it beat erratically. Caroline shifted in the bed next to me, snuggling closer. It was as if she felt I'd had a nightmare and was trying to comfort me.

"Whadda you doing?" Caroline mumbled blinking as she gazed around the dimly lit room.

"Just a nightmare," I told her, shifting so I was under the covers again and facing her.

She opened one eye taking me in, sighing as she noted the lack of tears. She'd been so used to me waking with tears or screams over the last couple of nights that she decided to sleep in my bed so she could be there for me.

"What was it about?" she asked, stifling a yawn as she shuffled closer. If she got any closer to me she'd end up morphing with me.

"There was a boy in the woods. He was running and then he was attacked by a pack of wolves."

"Oh." It wasn't the sort of dream she was expecting.

"They were werewolves," I told her, glancing over to the clock and seeing 3:34 flashing across the screen. It would explain why it was still dark in the room. "There was a full moon."

"Does it mean something?"

"I don't know." I didn't want to tell her that perhaps it was my subconscious' way of warning me about my werewolf gene. Was it a sign that I was going to trigger the curse? "Go back to sleep, we'll worry about it in the morning."

* * *

I wanted to do something different this Sunday so on a spur of the moment I invited everyone round to the boarding house for a family dinner.

Caroline and Jenna came round early to help me prepare and Jenna had ever brought Jeremy along. Although, he wasn't helping with the prep. Instead, he was reading my grimoire flicking through the pages and asking the occasional question.

"What are you making?" Alaric asked as he came into the kitchen followed by Damon and Tyler. Elena and Bonnie were upstairs in Elena's room, which was next door to Stefan's room. She felt like she couldn't intrude on his privacy yet she slept in there whenever she stayed here.

"A roast dinner," I told him, checking on the boiling vegetables watching as Jenna adjusted the timer on the steamer.

"So like a pot roast?"

I scrunch my nose up at the mention of a pot roast. I had nothing against it but I didn't like it when they compared a pot roast to a roast dinner. In my opinion, a pot roast was more like a stew.

"Umm a little bit," I replied, walking over to the oven and pulling out the roast chicken. "I didn't really know what everyone likes so I got chicken, beef and lamb."

"And we've got the complete works for sides," Caroline said, nodding to the serving dishes she set up for the vegetables. "Carrots, roast potatoes, peas, parsnips, broccoli, smushed up swede and something she calls Yorkshire puddings."

"Don't forget the stuffing balls and her version of pigs in blankets."

"Why do you say it like that?" Jeremy asked, placing the grimoire down as he looked at his aunt. Jenna gestured to the tray of pigs in blankets she was referring to. "What are they?"

"Pig in blankets," I told him, frowning at the lost look on his face. "We wrap them in bacon."

"Really?" Tyler asked, reaching over to grab one from the tray. He pulled his hand back with a gasp as Jenna slapped his hand away, shooing him from the island.

"Wait for it to be served," she scolded as if he was a small child. I guess, in a sense, she'd become the mother to all of us involved in the supernatural. God. She must be going nuts being the mother hen to seven children that new about the supernatural.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Matt called joining us in the kitchen, Elena and Bonnie trailing behind him.

"Matty!" I exclaimed, happy to see him. Caroline had warned me that he probably wouldn't come but I had a feeling he wouldn't turn me down.

Everyone had been tiptoeing around me for the last two days, no one wanting to upset me since the attack on Friday. While it was nice, I wanted it to stop, though, I was thankful it had somewhat manipulated Matt into coming.

"You're just in time," I told him, helping Jenna and Caroline finish up the platter of food as Jeremy finally decided to help as he placed a stack of plates next to the food. "We can serve ourselves here and then head into the dining room. Dad, will you cut the meat?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart," he muttered, giving us all a wicked grin as he held up the carving knife.

Jenna gave him a pointed look and huffed in frustration as he used his vampire speed to quickly carve the beef and lamb. Alaric took the initiative and cut the chicken, pulling it from the bone.

"Tuck in everyone."

* * *

I was reconsidering Damon's choice in signing me up for school. Due to the incident, I'd been given a few days off and so had Caroline. Tyler brought us our work every day and Bonnie often messaged us about any gossip - that one was to keep Caroline in the know.

I'd woken up this morning and decided I wanted to go back. Caroline had seemed worried, her logic being that it was Thursday and there wasn't any point in us going back for two days. In reality, she didn't want me to go back because everyone had been talking about the party last Friday.

And they were all keeping it from me.

The most surprising thing was that Carter was there. I had been convinced that Caroline killed him, but from the nasty bandage on his neck when I'd seen him, she'd left a mark.

Bonnie had explained that Caroline had compelled him to believe he'd been stabbed in the neck with the beer bottle by me as I tried to defend myself. She hadn't taken away his memory of what he'd done to me and he was currently on parole after Elizabeth Forbes arrested him for sexual assault.

I was questioning why he was in school considering what he'd done, but I'd been assured that he was being watched. It was true, he was being followed by a TA, a young-looking man that went everywhere with Carter. I also guess it was his dad's doing that he was still in school, considering his dad was a lawyer.

He had the money to try and get Carter out of this mess.

If it wasn't for all the witnesses that had seen what Carter had done then he would have gotten off scot-free.

"Ethel."

"Hmm," I replied turning to Caroline and frowning in confusion as I found us back at the cottage. When did we return?

"Your cell's going off," she said nodding to my pocket which was indeed vibrating.

"Oh," I muttered, pulling my phone out and answering. "Hello?"

"Are you alright, love?"

"Klaus? Why are you calling?" I asked moving past Caroline and taking the stairs to my room.

"Caroline's been concerned about you. She's been messaging me updates and it's getting quite annoying. she 's told me about your nightmares," he replied and I knew if I could see him he'd roll his eyes at Caroline's dramatics.

"If it's annoying you then why are you phoning me?" I asked, frowning as he yawned. If I was boring him then why did he bother talking to me?

"I didn't say you were annoying me, love. Just Caroline sending fifty texts a day."

"That's a bit dramatic, even for you, Klaus," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at how dramatic he was being. He was the fine one to complain about Caroline when he was being just as dramatic.

"You look at her phone, love, you'll see all the messages. That's not why I'm calling, she told me you've been dreaming about a wolf? Is it my wolf?" Did he think I was having a vision of his future?

"No, it's not you." It looked nothing like the wolf on my thigh. "It's different every time. Sometimes there's one wolf and other times there's a whole pack. The victim changes every time too, but there's always a kill. What if it means—" I cut myself off before I accidentally revealed my werewolf heritage to him. Did I really want him knowing? He was searching for werewolves to turn them into hybrids and something was telling me that I needed to stay away from that.

"Does it mean what, love?" he pressed clearly intent on finding out what I was going to say. Did he still think this was some vision warning him about his future?

"Do you think it's a warning about what you're doing? Searching for werewolves to turn them into hybrids? Maybe they're not wolves I'm seeing but your hybrids. What if this new species you're creating is dangerous?" That seemed like a reasonable enough excuse. It kept him off my back about my heritage and gave him something to ponder.

I knew he wouldn't like me questioning him. And that's what I was hoping for.

"They won't be wolves once they transition into a hybrid. They won't ever have to transform again." There was a tightness to his voice and I knew I'd gotten to him. It was nice to know that he was trying to hold his temper in even if he was fuming. "It must be something else you're dreaming of."

"I think it is," I muttered, stifling a yawn as today seemed to wash over me and I grew tired. "I saw him today."

"Saw who, love?"

"The boy who … the one that attacked me," I muttered, shivering as I remembered the smug look Carter sent my way when I froze upon seeing him.

"He's alive?" Klaus hissed causing goosebumps to prickle my skin. Why did I find that arousing? "I thought Caroline dealt with him!"

"I think you have a different meaning of deal with than us," I told him, suppressing a smile as he growled down the phone.

"Oh, no, sweetheart, I think we all have the same definition of dealing with someone," he said and I hummed in disagreement. "Perhaps she kept him alive so I can deal with him when I return."

"Are you going to return?" I asked. I thought he would have left this place after the ritual. He had nothing keeping him here. Nothing to return for.

"When I've got my army of hybrids I'll be back to collect you, my Little Witch," he promised that smirk no doubt on his face. I could hear it in his voice.

"What do you need me for?" I pondered playing stupid as I twisted a curl around my finger.

He wasn't going to give up having a witch like me by his side, whether we were married or not.

"Oh you know, world domination and all."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**


	21. Letters of Love

**Bear with me, I know Klaus doesn't seem like himself in these letters - it will all be explained.**

**This might be a little cliche in showing time skips, but I literally couldn't think of anything else to do. Sorry for ruining your loves with the scenes of predictability and cliche.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter - I wrote this after I posted the last chapter so it might be a little crappy. Sorry for any mistakes**

**Loves you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**LETTERS OF LOVE**

* * *

**May 22nd, Saturday**

_For you, my Little Witch,_

_Keep that smile on your face and bloom as beautiful as these Lilies._

_I received your drawing, as always, it was fantastic. I admire the way you captured my handsome face._

_I'll speak to you tonight, love._

_Yours with love,_

_Klaus x_

"He is right," Caroline said gazing adoringly at the lilies as she replaced them with the carnations.

"I always thought lilies were funeral flowers," I muttered, glazing down at the sketch pad where I was drawing another picture of Klaus, again. It was like I couldn't stop. My fingers itched until I grabbed my pencil and I'd automatically start drawing him. I was under the impression that my powers were trying to tell me something.

"It'll be your funeral if you don't stop being so morbid," Caroline hissed glancing over my shoulder as she looked at the sketchbook. "You're a bit a bit obsessed with him, aren't you?"

"I don't just draw Klaus, Caroline. I draw other things too," I grumbled, pulling the pad away from her gaze.

"No, you draw him and you draw his wolf. And I'm sure you've drawn him naked."

"Caroline!"

Why was I blushing? I knew I'd drawn him naked, it was taunting me so I had to get it out of my system, but why did she know about it?

"I've gotta say, I'm jealous," she teased, winking at me as she grabbed the carnations that were starting to wilt.

"Caroline," I warned, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of her looking at Klaus naked. I wasn't jealous.

"You want me to press these like the sunflowers and daisies?" I gave a nod watching as she walked into the sunroom, over to the chest where I was keeping my pressed flowers.

I was going to have to do a better job of hiding my drawings.

* * *

**May 29th, Saturday**

_Hello, Little Witch,_

_I had an interesting conversation with Caroline yesterday. She said she'd come across some very … erotic drawings of me. Have you been a naughty girl, Ethel?_

_If it pleases you, I haven't been able to keep you from my mind. Perhaps, one day, when I return, I can capture you like a French girl?_

_I got you to smile, right?_

_Keep shining bright, my Sunflower._

_All my love,_

_Klaus x_

He'd sent sunflowers again.

They were just as beautiful as the first ones, but because they were alone, they stole the show. I was never fond of sunflowers before but they were becoming one of my favourite flowers.

"How's the husband?" Caroline asked, a teasing smile on her face. "You still drawing him like a French girl?"

She knew. The bitch.

"You're a nightmare!" I hissed, throwing a balled-up sheet of paper at her. She ducked down, hiding behind the island as she laughed, the twinkle reminding me of bells.

"He asked me what you were doing and I told him you were drawing, I'm sorry I might have slipped and told him you were working on a collection of erotica of his naked form!" she cried, trying to run away as I pounced on her.

"It was one drawing!"

"I've seen three!"

"Oh my god! Have you been snooping in my room?" I exclaimed, dragging her into the sunroom as Jenna and Jeremy came down the stairs. It had become a regular thing for them to stay throughout the week, mainly staying the whole weekend.

"You don't need to keep your naked drawing hidden, Ethel, he is your husband."

"I keep them hidden from you! I snapped feeling my cheeks flush at the thought of her looking at him.

"Hey," she said softly, taking my hand and giving me a small smile. "I'm not interested in him. I promise. You don't need to get jealous."

"I am not jealous!"

* * *

**June 5th, Saturday**

_My Sunflower,_

_Caroline's told me you've been having nightmares again. How long do you think you can ignore my calls?_

_I was tempted to skip the flower this week as punishment, instead, you can have a rose. I know how you hate them._

_Perhaps you won't ignore me for a week._

_Yours,_

_Klaus x_

It was a curious thing to note, but when he was irritated at me he didn't add his love at the end of his note.

It was his petty way of getting back at me. So was the single red rose he sent. He knew I hated roses, but he still wanted to send me flowers even when I spent the week ignoring him.

I just had the feeling that my dreams were connected with him.

I'd even started hearing him and seeing him in my dreams. It was frightening because I knew the potential he could reach if he got his hybrids. He didn't believe that my dreams were linked with him and his mission, but I did and I didn't want to fight him about it.

"Effie," Caroline called coming into the sunroom, her phone held out in front of her.

"It's him, isn't it?" I grumbled, rolling my eyes as she forced the phone in my hand. "You play dirty."

"I had to get you to talk to me some way," he said, the teasing tone he was using annoying me.

"How's Stefan?" I asked, knowing how to play dirty as well.

"Oh you know, enjoying himself."

"Why don't I believe you?" I muttered, throwing myself on Caroline as she sat down next to me. "Have you compelled him?"

"Not at all, love," he paused and chuckled deeply down the phone. "Okay, maybe a little bit, but he's having a ripper of a time."

"What?" What he said made no sense. What did ripper of a time mean? Had he said it wrong?

"Don't worry, love. Tell me about these nightmares."

"Oh, you know, just having to watch you kill a dozen humans every night while a pack of wolves watches on," I taunted sharing a look with Caroline. It wasn't exactly what was happening but it was close to it.

"Oh, perhaps you're seeing my little road trip with Stefan minus the wolves," he teased and I gagged at the clear indication that he was killing dozens of humans.

"Are you killing people?" I asked pushing myself up and curling into Caroline's side. Why did it bother me that he was killing people, you know besides the fact that he was killing people? "Have you been with anyone?"

Ah. There it was. Whenever Damon went around on little killing sprees he always ended it with some sex with his victims.

"You know I haven't, love." His tone was calm but I could detect the slight smugness in it too. "Are you jealous?"

Caroline laughed as I hung up on him, throwing her phone at the end of the sofa. I wasn't dealing with him either. Not when Caroline teased me every day about my feelings over him.

* * *

**June 12th, Saturday**

_I dreamt of you last night, Little Witch._

_You were being worshipped on an altar surrounded by the flowers of your family._

_Was it just some dream or am I experiencing a prophecy?_

_Tell me more about your ancestors when we speak tonight._

_With my love,_

_Klaus x_

I should have guessed he would have sent cherry blossoms, tulips and snapdragons from his note. It was nice seeing the family flowers and even though they shouldn't have mixed well, they looked remarkable in the vase together.

"What odd flowers," Jenna muttered following Caroline into the kitchen.

I swear Caroline was always found lurking on a Saturday. It's like she was waiting for the flowers to arrive. No doubt about it. She was waiting for the flowers to arrive. She was such a hopeless romantic.

"Hmm, yeah, they're the family flowers," I muttered, running my fingers over the tattoo on my side. Had it been a coincidence that he dreamt about the flowers or could he remember them from our night together?

"Like your tattoo," Caroline pointed out. She'd seen it more than once, especially since she wasn't shy about staying in my room when I got dressed and in some weird sort of way, it didn't even bother me.

"Who sent them? Was it Charlie?"

"Errr …" I shared a look with Caroline. She was the only person to know about the relationship between Klaus and I. While I didn't mind Jenna knowing, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be judged for what I had done.

"Klaus sent them to her," Caroline answered, waving me off when I went to argue.

"But she's been getting flowers every week," Jenna said slowly, finally making the connection. "Wait, has he been sending them every week?"

"Yes. It's sort of a game between them," Caroline told her, leaning on the island and giving Jenna a smirk. "He sends her flowers and she phones him telling him how much of a dick he is."

Okay, that wasn't exactly true. I'd only called him a dick like three times in the last six weeks and he deserved it each time.

"Oh, playing hard to get." Jenna smiled as she nodded in agreement. "I like it."

"No. Not playing hard to get." I shook my head in disbelief as the two of them started muttering about how attractive Klaus was. "You're crazy!"

"Hey, I'm not the one flirting with the Original Hybrid," Jenna teased high fiving Caroline as my face grew heated in annoyance.

"You're being childish," I told her, removing the red rose from the vase and replacing it with the bouquet of flowers.

"And you're in denial."

"Shut up, Caroline!"

* * *

**June 19th, Saturday**

If Jenna was to see the state of the kitchen she'd take me by the ear and demand I sort it out or I'd be grounded for the rest of my life.

Since Klaus left something seemed like it had changed, like it was changing. As we entered weeks without him finding any wolves, I focused more on my dreams and wondered if it was a warning.

Surely it couldn't be that hard to find a pack of wolves? I'd even tried to locate them through scribing but came up empty. It was like mother nature was protecting them from Klaus.

"What's this mess?" Caroline asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee as she looked at the books covering the island.

"I'm researching," I muttered, moving around the counter and flipping through a textbook on wolves.

"Researching what?" She tilted her head as she read over one of the books a faint smile on her face. "You're researching animal behaviour? Why?"

"Trying to get an understanding on Klaus," I told her, biting my lip as I read a section in the textbook. "Did you know wolves mate for life? Do you think that's the same for werewolves?" I added the last bit quietly hoping she didn't hear.

"What's this about?" she asked, leaning on the island as she reached out and stopped me from moving.

"He sent me flowers."

"He's been sending you flowers for the last seven weeks," she argued looking over the seventh bouquet as she frowned.

"Yeah, but he'd never sent ones like this," I argued glaring at the Peonies and Forget-Me-Nots'.

"What? What's wrong with them?" Caroline touched the soft blue Forget-Me-Nots and furrowed her brow at me. "They're beautiful."

"He did this on purpose," I muttered moving away from her as she let go of my arm and glanced down at the book I had on animal behaviours and their mating urges.

"Why am I so confused right now?" she asked, blowing on her coffee as she watched me huff out in annoyance. There was literally nothing in here that helped me.

"Pink Peonies are regarded as a good omen of good fortune and a happy marriage. A long happy relationship." I was being bitter.

"Why's that bad? He's clearly showing that he wants a good relationship with you."

"I don't know him, Caroline!"

"Urgh, not this again. You speak to the man about four times a day, every bloody day. I sometimes think he knows you better than me. God, I only know half the stuff about you because I hear you talking to him. He makes you laugh, Effie, no one's really made you laugh since the attack, no one but him. He knows how to make you smile and he's not even here." She huffed out as she threw her hands in the air. I did love her. She had a hard time dealing with me. I tended to go a bit crazy when I couldn't understand anything. One thing that really got to me was my confusing emotions revolving Klaus. "What do the Forget-Me-Nots mean?" she asked, pinching her nose.

"True love or faithful love," I muttered weakly, looking between her and the flowers. Why was it that they had sent me into this crazy mission to find out an explanation for them but I was also very excited about the notion of him feeling that way about me.

"What did his note say?"

I glanced down at the neatly folded note and scrunched my nose up in distaste.

_My Little Witch,_

_I find it hard to stop thinking about you. I would suspect you cast a spell on me but I know you can't cast a spell this cruel due to the malice. It tortures me when I can think of nothing but you._

_Until we meet again, dream nothing but sweet dreams of me as I do of you._

_My deepest love,_

_Klaus x_

"Oh, he's so sweet," Caroline blubbered and I squinted as she wiped away a tear.

"Are you really crying?"

"Hey! I don't hate the guy like everyone else," she argued and I nodded slightly.

"Do you think I actually cast a spell on him? He doesn't seem himself, Caroline. He didn't talk like this when he was here breaking his curse," I muttered, running my hands through my hair in frustration. Had I damaged the man? Had I turned him into a romantic imbecile?

"You haven't cast a spell on him, Effie. He's just a romantic man," she supplied shrugging as if it was obvious. I still didn't believe this was the true Klaus. What if I'd damaged him when our minds linked together? Perhaps I'd broken his mind because I've been keeping a wall up between our minds. "You don't have to feel guilty because you've fallen in love with your husband, Effie."

"I can't help it," I replied, shrugging as I started packing up the books.

"So you are in love with him?" Why did she sound so gleeful?

"Shut up!"

* * *

I'd given myself the day off.

Instead of going to school, I grabbed my art supplies, jumped in my car and booked it out of Mystic Falls while Caroline was out of the house.

I had a lot to think about, Klaus' flowers and his note he sent Saturday was one thing and I couldn't do that here while at school.

I'd gone to the next town over, couldn't remember the name, but there was this really cute ice-cream parlour/waffle-house/diner that I'd made my home for the last ten hours.

It also helped that it was a quiet place when the morning and lunchtime rush was finished. The staff were lovely, refilling my coffee, advising me on the best food and encouraging me to order more food even when I thought they would judge me for ordering every hour.

They had some amazing dishes and their homemade ice-cream was to die for.

"You should really answer that," Patrica, the lovely waitress, said as my phone buzzed again. She was taking her break and asked if she could join me. She was looking through the drawings of Klaus' flowers. I'd drawn each bouquet, unable to stop myself.

"It's just my dad," I told her, sighing as I sent it to voicemail.

"Calling because you've skipped school?" she suggested, laughing as I sheepishly nodded. "Trust me, hon, you should answer it," she added as my phone rang again.

"Yes?" I sighed down the phone hearing him scoff.

"Where the hell are you!" he snapped talking to someone else on the phone. He'd no doubt gathered everyone and started a search party for me.

"I'm fine, dad, you don't need to worry." From the grimace on Patrica's face, I knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"You better leave right now, Ethel. I swear to god when you get home … here, Jenna can deal with you."

Oh god, he'd gotten her involved.

"Have you lost your mind!" she screamed and I pulled the phone away from my ear mouthing 'mother' to Patrica as she grew amused at my action. I knew Jenna wasn't my mother, but she did give her a run for her money. "Urgh, we've spent all day trying to call you. Bonnie tried to locate you but couldn't find you. Do you know how stressed I've been?"

"No, but I can take a guess. Look, I'll leave now and be back within the hour," I grumbled, collecting my stuff together on the table. "I'll give you a call when I'm crossing the bridge."

"You're so grounded," she hissed hanging up.

"Well, looks like I'm grounded," I muttered, smirking as I relaxed in my seat. "Why don't you grab me a peanut butter and mint chocolate cone before I hit the road?"

"You're lucky I've finished my break or I'd be telling you where to go, madam," she teased, rising from the booth and taking my empty plate. "You sure you want peanut butter and mint chocolate together?"

"It's not like I'm going to eat them together. I'll eat one scoop and then the other," I told her, rolling my eyes. "I bet you get worse combos."

"Yeah, one guy ordered bubblegum, peanut butter, and skittles once. It looked disgusting," she muttered. moving over to ice-cream freezers and fixing me up my cone. "You know," she said as she came back and took my card to close my tab. "You're gonna get in more trouble, love."

"It's all part of the plan," I told her, laughing as she muttered about the youth of today.

* * *

**Thank you for reading x**


	22. Invasion

**This might be the last chapter for a while. I start work tomorrow and I haven't been since the end of March so it's going to throw me through a loop.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, please let me know what you think. Sorry for any mistakes.**

**Loves you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**INVASION**

* * *

"I know, Caroline, you don't have to tell me," I muttered to her as I put her on the loudspeaker.

"You're late."

"I told you I know," I grumbled, rolling my eyes as she sighed out in frustration.

"Yeah, well you don't have Jenna moaning at you for the stupidity of your best friend!" she snapped talking to Jenna as well. I was sure she told her to shut up. "Look, where are you? Jenna's about ready to come storm to wherever you are and smack you into next year."

"I'm five minutes away from Wickery Bridge," I told her, frowning as something flashed in front of my car. "Wait, Caroline, I think—"

I screamed as the car flung to the side, the windows smashing as the car tipped on its side. I was flung from my seat, the seat belt digging into my chest as I was suspended in the air. When had the car tipped upside down?

"Effie? Are you okay?" I could faintly hear Caroline as she shouted through the phone. I was too busy focusing on the figure making its way towards the car.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," the figure said, crouching down and reaching out towards me.

I sighed in relief when their hand came in contact with a barrier, thankful my magic seemed to be working this time. I did not want a repeat of the last time I was attacked. Especially because I was being attacked by a vampire.

"A witch," the vampire hissed, her face becoming clear as the black dots around my vision clear. "Arghhh!" She sped away and in her place was Caroline's worried face.

"What the hell?" she whispered, reaching into the car and tugging me free of my hanging contraption. "You've cut your head open." I should have guessed there was blood due to the veins under her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, shuffling in her arms and closing my eyes as a car pulled up to a stop. Was it me or did that all happen ridiculously fast?

"Is she alright?" Jenna asked, her voice growing in concern as she came to a stop beside us. "She's bleeding."

"She must have hit her head," Caroline told her, helping me stand and walking us over to Jenna's car. "It's probably best if we head to the hospital."

"I think that's a great idea," I mumbled, ignoring the shocked looks on their faces. I normally did everything to prevent going to the hospital. "I think I've broken my wrist." I glanced down at my left arm and gagged at the bone sticking out at my wrist. "I know I've broken my wrist."

"That's disgusting," Jenna muttered, shivering as she climbed into the car and drove us to the ER.

* * *

The ER was busy and even though it was clear my wrist was broken, I didn't get seen right away. We were sent to a small waiting room, a curtain providing us with some privacy as I lounged on the bed.

"Does it hurt?" Caroline asked, frowning as the nurse held the gas and air mark over my mouth.

"My bone is sticking out of my arm, Caroline," I snapped, pulling the mask from my face and grimacing as the nurse added a bit of pressure to my arm as she cut off the long sleeve of my top. "What do you think?"

"Well, you're not screaming in pain, what am I supposed to think?" she muttered, hitting my foot as the nurse tutted. Jenna was trying to suppress a smile as she typed away on her phone.

"I think I'm in shock." I looked to the nurse wondering if that could be the reason why it didn't have me screaming. "I could be in shock right?"

"It could be." She pulled the cut up sleeve away from me and rested it on the little cart she had next to her. "I'm not a doctor, but I've seen a break like this before and I'm certain you might need surgery to fix it."

"Urghh, you think I've had enough surgery in the last two months." It wasn't even nine weeks ago when I was in surgery due to being stabbed. That time I'd even died. "I'm not really feeling like dying today," I added receiving a look from the nurse as I laughed.

Whoa, what had they given me?

"She crashed in her surgery last time," Jenna explained her look of concern falling on me. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, just a side effect of the gas and air," the nurse explained smiling gently at Jenna. "I'll be back soon, hopefully with the doctor."

"She's high," Caroline muttered her eyes on me as I tried to grab something in front of my face. Why couldn't I get it?

Grabbing the gas and air mask, I sucked on it, turning to Caroline, a large smile on my face.

"Caroline, Caroline, who am I?" I asked, placing the mask over my face and taking a deep breath as I spoke through it. "I am your father." I laughed, pulling the mask away, tears rolling down my face as Caroline and Jenna shared a look.

"I think it's best if you take that from her," Jenna said as Caroline came to my side and tried to take the gas and air from me.

"No," I whined trying to put up a fight. "It's mine, Carrie. Go get your own. Nurse! Nurse! She's trying to steal my gas!"

"Well, this is a sight."

I glanced over Caroline's shoulder to see a very attractive doctor standing next to my amused nurse.

"Marry me," I blabbered pushing Caroline away as I gazed into his blue eyes. They were so pretty, just like Klaus'." Carrie, I want Klaus," I muttered to her feeling myself getting upset by the lack of hybrid near me. "I miss him."

"It's alright," she whispered, pressing a kiss to my head as she slipped the mask away from me. Luckily I must have whispered it to her as Jenna was still looking amused. If I was not mistaken, she was also checking out the doctor.

"Sorry about her," Jenna said, giving him a bright smile as he walked closer, the nurse closing the curtain behind them. "She's a little loopy."

"I get it all the time," he assured her, picking up the clipboard at the bottom of my bed and flicking through my chart.

"I bet you do," Jenna muttered as she came to my side giving me a warning look.

"You've been a regular of ours in the last couple of months," the doctor said obviously referring to the two previous times I was here. Both of them are as unpleasant as this time. "We've noticed your head injury and want to ask a few standard questions."

"I'm sleepy, Care, tell the man to go away," I grumbled leaning into her as she grabbed my waving arm. It's like it had a mind of its own. Wasn't one of them having a booboo?

"Can you tell me your name?" the doctor asked, leaning down in front of me giving me a small smile. I bet he thought he was good looking with a smile like that but he had nothing on Klaus.

"Ethel or Etheldred if you want to get technical," I told him, glancing at Caroline to see if I got it right. She gave a small nod, running her hand up my left arm and holding onto it so I couldn't swing it around again.

"That's right and can you tell me what the date is?"

"Umm, it was Saturday two days ago, I got these really beautiful flowers." I smiled as I remembered the flowers. They were so pretty, I wish I could take them everywhere with me. Caroline nudged my arm and gave me a pointed look gesturing towards the doctor. "Umm, Monday the err, twenty-first?"

"That's right." He turned to Jenna giving her a slight nod. "I'm not too concerned about the head injury but would like to get an MRI on her head and an X-RAY of her arm before we go into surgery. Are you her next of kin?"

"Yeah, I'm her guardian while her parents are away," Jenna explained. Where was Damon? Wasn't he at home? Why wasn't he here?

"I've just got to ask a few more questions and then I can have the nurse wheel you down for your scans." The doctor turned to me, clicking his pen as he looked down at his clipboard. "Do you smoke?"

"No."

"Do you drink?"

"No."

"Could there be a possibility that you're pregnant?"

"No?"

He looked up from the clipboard frowning at my answer. I was also confused at the way I stated it like a question.

"Have you been sexually active in the last couple of months?"

"No," Caroline said, shaking her head in answer to the doctor's question.

"Yes," I replied hunching in on myself as Jenna and Caroline snapped their eyes to me. "About sevenish weeks ago. It was one time."

"Right … okay ... Nurse Thompson will take you to have a pregnancy test and then when can move forward when we have the results." He gave Jenna a weary smile as he quickly left.

Urgh, the guy had no balls. Look at him running away at the thought of teenage drama. Oh god. I was seventeen! There was no way I was pregnant!

* * *

Why did they always give you options?

You can have the red jello or the orange one?

Do you prefer rain or sun?

Cold weather or hot weather?

Coffee or tea?

"Do you want a drink?" Caroline asked, interrupting my thoughts as I turned to look at her.

"She can't. She's going into surgery in an hour," Jenna interrupted, her tone hardened as she glared down at the pamphlet in her hands.

"Are you made?" I asked, watching as her jaw ticked at my words. That was definitely anger.

"No."

"You sound angry." I turned to Caroline sharing a wide-eyed look with her. "She sounds angry, right?"

"I'm not angry, just disappointed."

"Oh, well that's worse," I groaned, throwing myself back on to the bed. "I never meant for this to happen, you know."

"Ethel, you're pregnant at seventeen. It's reckless and stereotypical," Jenna argued her anger finally getting the best of her.

"You know what," I snapped, shuffling up to glare at her. "This shouldn't even be possible. Klaus is a vampire. Vampires can't procreate!"

"Shh," Caroline warned, glancing at the closed curtain in case someone overheard us. "She does have a point, Jenna."

"Well how do you explain this then?" She was gesturing to my stomach and the baby that lay within. "If Klaus is the only person you've slept with, then how have you fallen pregnant?"

"Miracle child?" I responded just as confused as she was.

"Don't joke around, Ethel!"

"Wait." Caroline stood from her chair and started pacing. "Klaus isn't just a vampire, he's a hybrid. He's a werewolf too."

"Are you saying that because he's a werewolf he can have children?" Jenna asked, dropping the pamphlets on the bed as she rubbed at her head.

"He was born a wolf, right? It's why he wanted to break the curse," Caroline supplied, shrugging as she made her guesses. "Maybe that's why he can have children."

"I really don't care how this is possible." I had to wonder though if my ancestors knew about this when they kept pressing for the bedding ceremony. "There's a baby involved now. Do I tell Klaus? Is it safe to tell him? Will harm come to the baby?"

"You're concerned for it," Jenna said, giving me a sad smile as she reached out and took my hand.

"It's a girl," I told her, rubbing my hand over my flat stomach.

"Because of the family curse-thing," Jenna muttered, remembering how my family tree was only females.

"It's not really a curse," I muttered not being able to completely disagree with her. "I need to protect her. Even if it means keeping her from Klaus."

"Okay." Jenna ran her fingers through my hair and Caroline spun around to face the curtain as Nurse Thompson came in dragging an ultrasound on wheels.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. I thought we could do a scan before you go into surgery, check everything's okay with the baby after the accident."

"That sounds like a plan," Jenna agreed, coming to my side as she helped me get comfortable on the bed.

Caroline joined us, coming to stand next to Jenna as the nurse set up everything and helped pull my shirt up. I could see the excitement shining in Caroline's eyes and it made me sad to think that she would never experience this.

"Sorry," Nurse Thompson said as she placed the cold gel on my stomach. "I forget it's cold. Here we go," she muttered running the scanner over my stomach. "There we go." She pointed to a little blob on the screen that was floating, it's tiny heart flickering. "It's got a strong heartbeat," she muttered, pressing a button and the tiny galloping of the baby's heart washed over us.

I couldn't help the smile as I gazed at my baby on the screen, tears filling my eyes as I let her heartbeat calm me.

"The baby's about the size of a grape, I can't really tell you anything else, but we've scheduled you in for an appointment with a midwife after your surgery," she said, printing off a photo of the scan and wiping my stomach clean. "Why don't you hold on to this. It's not a good copy but it'll hold you through until you meet with the midwife."

"Thank you," Jenna said, her hand resting on my arm as I gazed down at the little invader inside me.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked, coming to my other side as she gazed down at the scan.

"Yeah." I tilted my head to the side as I frowned at the scan, knowing what I had to do. "Do you think you can give me some privacy?"

"Of course," Jenna said, grabbing her bag and heading towards the curtain. "Come on, Caroline. We should probably tell Damon and Tyler about her surgery."

Caroline followed after her giving me one last glance before she left.

Stroking my finger over the little invader, I reached over and took my phone from the table dialing a familiar number.

"You alright, love?"

I took in a deep breath as his voice washed over me and blinked back the tears. I wasn't going to tell him about the baby. I promised to keep her safe, but I wanted to hear his voice before I went into surgery. I needed to know I was doing the right thing by keeping her from him.

"I wanted to call to tell you I was in a car accident earlier this evening," I told him, getting straight to the point. There was no need to beat around the bush.

"What? Are you okay?" It confused me to hear the concern in his voice. It was clear that he cared but part of me still worried I had caused this change in him. That it wasn't really him.

"I broke my left wrist, they have to operate on it," I replied hesitating as I rested my hand on my stomach and looked down at the scan. "Klaus I …"

"What's wrong, love?" he asked, noting the hesitation in my voice.

"I was attacked by a vampire. She caused the car crash. She said she'd been waiting a long time for this … she was going to kill me but Caroline and Jenna arrived," I told him, changing my mind about telling him about the pregnancy. There was too much going on and I doubt he would even believe me.

"Did you know her?" His voice was tight, as if he wanted to say something but kept it held in.

"No. Do you think she came after me because—"

"Because of me?" He asked, cutting me off. He sounded angry and I wasn't sure if it was because I accused him or because he thought it was his fault.

"I was going to say because I'm a witch. No one knows about our connection. No one would come after me to get to you." It couldn't be because of him that I was attacked, I had a feeling I knew who it was. "There's this vampire my mother's been hunting down. There was an incident when I was a child. My mother killed her boyfriend because he was trying to kill me. I think it's her."

"Was it because you were a witch?"

"I'm not too sure, maybe?" I glanced up as Caroline came back through the curtain mouthing that the nurse was on her way. "Look, I've got to go. The nurse is coming to take me to get ready for my surgery."

"You'll be fine, love. Have Caroline call me when you're out," he muttered sighing deeply before hanging up.

"You heard him?" I asked her, dropping my phone on the bed as she gave a little nod. "Do you think everything will be okay, Caroline? Will the baby be okay?"

"The nurse assured Jenna that the drugs won't harm the baby. She'll be fine during the surgery." It made me smile hearing someone else referring to the baby as a girl. It made it real.

"You're going to be an amazing aunt, Caroline," I told her, enjoying the way her eyes lit up and a large smile came to her face.

* * *

**I wish I could have seen your reactions to the news.**

**How many of you guessed this was going to happen? How many of you don't like it?**

**Please let me know what you think.**

**Thank you for reading xx**


	23. Elean's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started using these chapter notes on another one of my stories and really enjoy how I'm able to communicate with my readers and thought I'd do it with all my stories now.  
> Sorry you have to put up with me.  
> I've replied to your comments, please read the endnotes for the replies.  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter xx

**I beg for your forgiveness.**

**I know it's been a long time, but I was really stuck on this chapter after the first scene. My mind went blank and I had no clue how to transition through the rest of this chapter to get to the next chapter.**

**I'm sorry it sucks, but please bear with me. The next chapter will be better.**

**Loves you all, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**ELENA'S BIRTHDAY**

* * *

Urgh, my mouth was dry when I woke and I was in a different room than the little curtain flap area in the ER.

"Where am I?" I muttered catching sight of Caroline as she lounged in a chair reading a magazine.

"They had to put three pins in your arm." Well, that didn't really answer my question.

"Is the baby alright?" I asked, resting my hand lightly over my stomach. I felt the heaviness of my left arm and glanced at the blue cast covering my hand and ending at my elbow. "How long do I have to have this on?" My throat was all croaky and as if sensing it, Jenna came into the room a bottle of water in her hands.

"You're awake. Fantastic." She unclasped the bottle and handed it over, a smile on her face. "The sonographer and midwife are on their way down," she said, settling next to Caroline and glancing at the magazine in the blonde's hand.

I only realised then that she was reading a baby magazine.

"Have you told anyone?" I asked Jenna, gesturing to my stomach.

"No, I thought you could tell everyone." Great. Throw me in the deep end, Jenna. It wasn't like I was in shit anyway for the broken arm.

"Not today though," I muttered, rolling my eyes at the pointed look Jenna sent me. "It's Elena's eighteenth if I'm remembering? I don't think it's wise I take the day from her, especially since she blames me for Stefan being with Klaus."

"Well, you have a point," Jenn reluctantly agreed. "But you will tell Damon. I'm giving you till the end of the month or I'll do it."

And it wouldn't be pretty. She left that bit unsaid, but I got the message.

"Klaus sent you flowers," Caroline input nodding to the sunflowers on the other side of the room. "He's also paying for your room." It would explain why I was in such a nice room.

"He's always going to be in your life, isn't he?" Jenna asked, the sudden realisation hitting her. Caroline nodded along with me, but I could tell she was more excited about it. "I'm not sure if I can get used to that."

"He's not that bad," Caroline argued and I was confused as to whether our positions were mixed up. Shouldn't I be the one defending him seeing as I was his wife? Yet, instead, it was my best friend defending him while I was the one overly cautious.

"And he's what? Your husband because of some ceremony you did to protect Damon?"

Yes. I had explained everything to Jenna. How could I not? Especially since she thought I just slept with him because he wanted it. It couldn't be helped and I didn't want her thinking I had been taken advantage of.

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone, Jenna," I begged her, flicking my eyes to the door as someone knocked. "They won't understand. Please, Jenna."

She nodded, getting up and answering the door. Nurse Johnson came in with two other women, smiling warmly at me as they dragged in a bigger sonography machine.

"I bet you're excited, huh, mommy?"

* * *

Caroline was going a little overboard.

Elean told her she didn't want a party, but Caroline was throwing her one anyway. She's commandeered the Salvatore Boarding House for the party and she's conned me into helping her decorate.

It was hard decorating with the use of one arm.

"Shall we go get dressed?" Caroline said, appearing by my side within seconds. I hadn't even known where she was. I could tell there was something bothering her though.

"Where are we going?" I asked as she dragged me out of the house and over to her car.

"The cottage, I've got your outfit planned and everything."

I nodded along with her and strapped myself into her car, resting my head on the window as I listened to her chat away.

I wasn't really in the mood for a party at the moment. I had too much on my mind, like the fact I was bringing a miracle child into the world.

I was so set on not telling Klaus but as each second came barrelling at me, I wondered if I was making the right choice. It was his child after all, he had a right to know.

Was I any better than my mother for keeping it from him?

I knew she told Richard Lockwood that she was pregnant with me and he knew about me, but I didn't know about him.

Did I want the same for my child?

Could I do that?

"Hey," Caroline said, nudging my arm gently. "You okay?"

"Just thinking about the baby," I told her climbing out the car when I realised we were outside the cottage.

"It'll be okay, Ethel. If you want to tell him you can. He is your husband." Why did she always know what I was thinking?

"Thanks, Carrie."

She hadn't been lying about having planned out my outfit. Set neatly placed on the bed was a cute white dress that was about thigh length and plain in design. It was really lovely and I knew why she'd chosen it.

One, it wouldn't take any attention away from Elena and it wasn't eye-catching so it should draw the doppelganger's attention to me. I didn't need her shouting at me again because of Stefan's decision.

She matched the dress with a green jacket and clunky bracelets, I guess I'd only be wearing them on one wrist. It was also pure luck that the jacket was baggy enough to fit my cast through the armhole.

There was also a pair of matching green boots and a cute pair of white frilly socks.

I would one day hire Caroline to be my personal assistant. She seemed to do it all for me now anyway, why not pay her for it?

"Hey, I got you something," she said, coming into the room with a collection of tiny gift bags.

I frowned at the bags, watching as she sat on the edge of my bed and dug her hand into one of the bags. I could feel my lips twitching as she held up the tiny baby grow and I had to wonder when she found the time between this morning and now to buy it.

"Mama's main squeeze. Really, Caroline?" The vest was white but was covered in words and a massive lemon. She didn't say anything, just pulled out another vest. This one had an avocado in the middle with the words 'I want to Avocuddle' lopping around it. "Caroline."

"Oh come on, these are just the cute ones, wait until you see this one," she said, digging into another bag and pulling a black vest that had me laughing.

"I only cry when ugly people hold me. Really? I'd like to see you explain this to Jenna. How did you even get these so fast?"

"There's this really cute baby shop a town over, the one you were in last night. Well, while you were sleeping I thought I'd get you some presents, help cheer you up a bit." I gave her a soft smile and ran my hands over the baby vests. "This isn't a bad thing, Effie. It happened for a reason, right. There has to be a reason why he can have children."

"I guess you're right. I just, we don't exactly live safe lives, Caroline. He's the Original Hybrid and there are bound to be people out there that want to hurt him. What if they come after me because of her?"

"You can't live your life in fear, Effie. Make the most of it before she comes. We can find a way to keep her safe." She pulled out one more rest, this one white as well and placed it in my hands as she stood from the bed.

I was Daddy's fastest swimmer.

"Caroline!"

* * *

There was an awkward tension.

Caroline told Tyler she wasn't ready to be with him and I had a feeling it was because of me. Did she really think I'd care if she dated my brother?

And then she got all pissy when he turned up at Elena's birthday party with a date.

She was literally glaring at her right now and I was afraid she'd be able to harness the power of laser eyes.

"Why don't you go talk to him?"

"I'm not interested," she said, her eyes following Tyler as he walked over to Matt.

"You've been staring at him since he arrived. Go speak with him. Tell him how you feel and ask him to forgive you." I nudged her arm and gave her a pointed look. "And then you can jump his bones."

"I told Jenna I'd look after you."

"Caroline, we're at my dad's house. I don't think anything is going to happen to me here. If I get tired I'll go upstairs and put a charm on the door to prevent anyone from coming in." I pushed her away in Tyler's direction. "Go."

As soon as Caroline left, Elena's dark eyes found me and I was not prepared to listen to her complain all night about how I'd ruined her life.

Grabbing a can of soda, I pushed my way through the crowd and made it upstairs to my bedroom, closing the door behind me and putting up a shielding charm.

Settling on the bed, I curled up under the covers and turned on the telly. I could do a horror film. One of those stupid ones where the girl runs upstairs instead of out of the house when she finds out the killer is in the house with her.

_Buzz. Buzz._

I glanced down at my phone, surprised to see Klaus calling me.

Did the hospital tell him I was pregnant?

He was my husband, after all, he had that sort of power. Or he could have compelled them to tell him.

"Hello?" I muttered, biting my bottom lip as I waited for him to shout down the phone at me.

"Are you back home, love?"

"Umm, I'm at the boarding house. It was meant to be Elena's birthday today …" I trailed off hoping it would be enough to distract him. I was so good at this lying to him thing. Not that it was a good thing.

"It would explain why Stefan's so … dramatic today," he mumbled. I could hear the smile in his voice. He was obviously pleased by Stefan's reaction.

"I'm thinking about getting a puppy."

So, I might have panicked. It was like I was afraid I'd blurt out the truth to him and I was trying to do anything to get my mind off the baby.

"A puppy?"

"Yes, I was going to call him Klaus."

"Very funny, love."

"I am thinking about getting a dog though. Not a puppy, that's too much drama and training and time I don't have." Especially considering there would be a tiny tribrid in eight months.

"Is there a certain breed you'd want?"

"A husky."

"I find it humorous that your favourite dog also happens to look like a wolf, sweetheart. Perhaps we were always fated to be together."

"Have you hit your head recently?" I asked, not liking him when he was like this. It was strange to hear him talking about fate bringing two people together. I only really pictured him as the sort to hunt down and kill a bunch of people.

"How's your arm?" It looked like he wasn't in the mood to argue and decided to change the subject instead.

"Heavy. They don't give you light casts, do they? Did Caroline tell you they needed to put three pins in?"

I wanted to know exactly what Caroline had said to him.

"She might have mentioned it. Have you looked into the vampire that attacked you?"

I knew there was a reason behind his call. Did he think it was a vampire he'd pissed off and was getting back at him through me?

"No, but Jenna and Alaric are trying to find something that might help them find out who it is. Jenna's asking my mother about the vampire she's hunting. She might know something."

"If you need my help, love, don't be afraid to call."

"Klaus, I need to …" I trailed off not knowing if I could tell him. Was it the best idea to tell him about his daughter? He was off hunting werewolves to transform them into hybrids. It didn't really show how responsible he was. "I've been having these dreams."

It seemed like the best route to go down.

"About what, love?"

"Werewolves. I see you a lot of the time. You attacked this boy. You attacked me."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Ethel." I could hear the hurt in his voice but he didn't blame me for sharing my dreams.

"I don't believe you would." I didn't want to tell him I was afraid he'd try to trigger my werewolf side once he found out about it. Was my dream warning me that he'd try to change me into a hybrid?

I would never agree to it. Not at the risk of losing my power.

"Get some rest, love. I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Klaus."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Princess_Jellybean - Thank you for your comment. I’m really happy you’re okay with Ethel being pregnant. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry for how rubbish it is.  
> *Shaylakalani501 - Thank you for your comment. That is exactly what’s going to happen with Klaus. And because he can be a bit of a dick, he’s going to say it was the night she was attacked, knowing it will hurt her.   
> *RoseBellaElizabethVictoria - Thank you for your comment. I love the emoji with the heart eyes, it’s cute.  
> *Adriana - Thank you for your comment. Sorry it’s taken so long for the update, as explained in my Author’s Note, I really struggled to finish the chapter off. I hope you enjoy it.  
> *Katty - Thank you for your comment. I think Ethel’s going to struggle to tell him - you see that a lot in this chapter. She wants to but she’s afraid of the danger it will place the baby in. I mean, Klaus isn’t the safest, nicest person in the world. I don’t see anything wrong with your English - it seems fine to me and good on you if it’s not your first language.


	24. Mountain Danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been so long.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> I've replied to your comments and they can be found in the endnotes.

**Been a long time.**

**Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this update.**

**Sorry for any mistakes.**

**Love, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**MOUNTAIN DANGER**

* * *

There was something relaxing about painting Klaus. Maybe it was the intense look I could capture in his eyes, or the slight upturn of his lips as he smirked.

I wondered if our daughter would have his eyes or that same smirk?

I set my brush down and rested my hand over my flat stomach.

"I wonder what your daddy will think about you," I muttered, rubbing my stomach gentle before shaking my head and turning to go back into the house. "Jesus! What are you doing here?"

I was beyond surprised to find Klaus standing in the doorway of the sunroom, his face absolutely livid as his eyes dropped to the hand resting on my stomach.

"Were you going to keep her from me?" he asked, slowly stepping into the room, his hands trailing over the back of the couch as he passed it.

"No! I just didn't know how to tell you. You live a dangerous life, Klaus, I didn't want to bring her into this sort of world." I argued, wrapping my arms around me defensively.

"A world that you also live in, Ethel. I'm not the only one that lives a dangerous life!"

"Yes but you're the one that goes around like a murderous lunatic killing for the fun of it!"

"She's my daughter too!"

"You don't deserve her," I fired back, flinching and shuffling back as he sped towards me, his hand wrapping around my throat.

"Don't," he warned, his fingers gripping onto my throat tighter.

"You … won't pro-protect … her," I gasped out, my hands gripping onto his as I tried to pry his fingers from around my throat.

I could see the anger burning in his eyes and I knew I'd gone too far. His fingers seemed to grip tighter and as they did I felt my neck snap and my breath left me as I went limp in his arms.

I gasped as I woke, my hand resting on my neck before dropping to rest on my stomach. Why did that dream feel real? I didn't even know I was dreaming.

Was it my conscience telling me I should tell Klaus about the baby?

If it was, then it could have done it in a less violent way.

_Buzz._

I glanced down at my phone, frowning as Elena was calling me.

There would be no reason why she was calling me unless there was something wrong with Jermey or Jenna and seeing as they were both here, I didn't know what it was she wanted.

"Hello?"

"I need you to come and help me get Stefan back."

Yeah, real blunt. No hello, how are you, are you feeling good this morning, just straight to the bloody point.

"Is that really a good idea?" I asked, climbing out of bed and running my hand through my tangled hair. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a baggy green jumper and set them on my bed ready to put on after my shower.

"It's Stefan! You may not care about him the same way you do for Damon, but he is our family!"

"I meant because it's a full moon tonight," I muttered, feeling annoyed that she currently had a one-track mind. I could understand where she was coming from. My mind had only been on Damon when he got bit and trying to find a way to save him - hence why I married and bound myself to Klaus and why I was now pregnant.

"Oh. I forgot about that." I felt sorry for her, I really did. She'd lost her adoptive parents, her real parents and her boyfriend all within two years and her life had been completely turned upside down these last couple of months. "Will you come with us please?"

"Who's us?"

"Me and Alaric." No Damon? Huh, she must have either not told him because he didn't agree with her and was trying to stop her or they had another argument about his feelings for her.

"I don't have a choice do I?" Because I knew she'd drag me out of the cottage and take me with her even if I tried to stop her. She'd end up guilt-tripping me into going.

"No, you don't."

* * *

This was a bad idea. I literally didn't know how many times I could repeat myself to Elena only for her to ignore me. I knew Ric felt the same way by the apologetic looks he was sending me through the hang-mirror.

He didn't want to get me involved in this and I knew that had more to do with Jenna - while they were no longer together he didn't want to cross her and get on her bad side, he was already in enough shit with her.

"We should have at least told Damon," I muttered, not so accidentally kicking the back of Elena's chair in annoyance. Okay, so I was being petty, blame it on the hormones.

Why should I be here risking my life and the life of my daughter because Elena got it into her head that it would be a good idea to save Stefan on a full moon?

Did she think Klaus would be distracted enough by the werewolves that he'd just let Stefan go?

Did she even stop to think that the first place he'd look was Mystic Falls which would lead him right back to her, who was alive? That would ruin her little plan, wouldn't it?

"This is so not worth the drama," I said, making sure she could hear me this time. I shared a look with Alaric, hoping he'd do the right thing and get us out of here, but instead I received a wink from him.

What was that supposed to mean? That could literally mean anything. Hang in there. I'll get us out of this. I'm turning the car around in five minutes. Do you need a toilet break? Look, there are four examples of what it could mean.

"Could you like, not be a bitch for five minutes?" Elena snapped turning around to glare at me. "This is your fault. It should be you out here with Klaus, not Stefan."

Yeah, and could you imagine how well finding out about the pregnancy would have been if I was with Klaus?

Would he have been the one to tell me with all his super senses and all? Would he be able to hear her heartbeat or sensed her with some weird wolfy abilities? Huh. I guess I never really thought about it.

"Wake me up when we get there."

* * *

You know, I had better things to do with my time than hike through a dangerous mountain forest on a full moon.

I wonder what Jenna would do to Alaric when she found out he'd been in on Elena's plan.

I guess this also put me in her path of wrath. God, she was going to be a nightmare because she'd be bringing up the baby and how I was being stupid because I'd put myself at risk.

In case you've forgotten, Jenna, I'm a witch. I've cast a few protection spells on myself today.

A loud splash brought my attention to Elena, who, for some reason was sitting in the water with an affronted look on her face. She started arguing with Damon, who appeared stating he knew about her plan and had been following us since we left.

That must have been what Alaric was winking about earlier.

Tilting my head to the side, I gazed off into the woods, ignoring the argument brewing between Elena and Damon as the hairs on my arms grew.

We were close to Klaus.

It wasn't like he was around the corner, but he was in the same mountains as us and I could feel him like he was an extension of my body. Another heart beating against my own. Very cliche but also a good way to detect where he was.

I wonder if he could sense that I was carrying his child.

I was a little too focused on whether Klaus knew I was pregnant and I think it had to do with the dream I had this morning.

Did I want to tell him?

Yes.

Was I afraid to tell him?

Yes.

And this was where I was stuck in a predicament.

I feared his reaction because I already had a feeling he wouldn't be happy about it.

I just needed Elena to stop being a bitch and we could get out of here before anything bad happened.

"I think we should go," I said finally bringing my focus back to the other three. Elena was already out of the water, a frown on her face as she glared at me.

"We're going to stick around for a while," Damon said, also frowning. Had they had a discussion about whether we'd stay or go? Had I missed it while I was stuck in my head?

"Really? Don't you think it's a little dangerous to be sulking around the mountains when we know there's a wolf pack ready to transform at any minute?"

"When she puts it like that, she has a point," Alaric said, sharing a look with Damon.

"Look, we'll stay until the moon's at its highest peak and then we'll go."

I wasn't going to argue with Damon, not when he was already so pissed at Elena, but it seemed like his plan was just as stupid as the doppelgangers.

* * *

Two hours and forty-five minutes later and me surprisingly out of breath, Elena decided she needed a breather.

She said that but I knew she was actually scared of the lone howl we'd heard seconds before.

That wasn't good.

The sun was still up, the slow setting causing the sky to turn an orange-pink. It was nowhere near time for werewolves to start transforming.

I could tell that Damon was regretting listening to Elena now. He should have forced her back to the car. Hell, I would have knocked her out with a bit of magic if needed.

"Is it safe to say we can leave?"

"I'm not leaving without Stefan!" Elena spat, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at me.

"I'm not sure if you understand, Elena, but there's a pack of wolves out here that would love to rip us to shreds. Not to mention that if Damon gets bit he's more than likely going to die as we've no longer got our hands on Klaus' blood. If anything Stefan is the safest one at the moment because he's best pals with the hybrid."

"Perhaps we should head back," Alaric said when I finished. He was looking worried and I wondered if he was prepared for what Elena had planned.

"Another thing," I said, taking a step towards her. "What do you think Klaus would do if he saw you alive? I doubt he'd keep you breathing for long so you have a choice to make. Your life or Stefan's and if you say Stefan's you're a lot more stupid than I gave you credit for."

"You little bitc—"

A growl interrupted her and I turned to see what had caught her attention, pausing in shock at the untransformed wolf crouched behind us. He didn't look good, there was blood trailing down his neck and creeping out of his eyes as if he'd been crying.

"Stay where you are," Alaric said, coming up behind Elena, crossbow raised. I was aware of Elena creeping up next to me, her hand hovering next to mine as she watched the wolf carefully.

"Vampire," the wolf said, his eyes set on Damon as he stood next to Elena.

I could already tell that Elena would be in the way as the wolf charged and pulled her out of the way in time to throw a shield up to protect Damon. The wolf bounced off my shield, becoming disoriented as he hit the ground. I was thankful my magic seemed to be working, it had been touch and go for a really long time after my attack where I feared my powers had left me.

Damon sped over and grabbed the wolf which seemed to be a mistake as the wolf pinned Damon to a tree. Alaric was quick to react, shooting the wolf in the back with a bolt and Elena threw a wolfsbane grenade to Damon who smashed it against the wolf's head.

It amazed me how easy we could work together when we put our differences aside.

The wolf crumpled to the ground, fighting off the effects of the wolfsbane. Damon, one to always take his anger out with violence, kicked him when he moved and seemed to knock all the fight out of him.

"Let me guess," Alaric said, looking down at the wolf as he rested his hand on Elena's shoulder in comfort. "Hybrid."

Why hadn't I noticed that? It explained the blood around his eyes and his skittish behaviour and the reason why he seemed less agitated by the rising full moon.

I watched as Damon shrugged and without words, Alaric and Damon tied him up, twisting a bunch of ropes and chains around him and the tree. I didn't bother asking why Alaric had so many ropes in his bag, perhaps it was a hunter thing, but it didn't seem as if using ropes on any supernatural creature would do the trick in all honesty.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer," Damon said, tightening the ropes around his chest as he shared a look with Alaric. I often wondered how they understood each other with a look. "What else do we have?"

Why was it no one ever asked me to help?

I was a pretty remarkable witch if I did say so myself. Yeah, sure I may have needed a bit of more practice but I was a stronger witch than Bonnie and they always seemed to go to her for help.

"Ric, here. Take these," Elena said, holding out the vervain covered ropes. Damon, the idiot, reached out for them, ignoring the fact that she'd asked Ric to do it.

"Ahh! Ow!" He glared at her as if it was her fault.

"She said Ric," I muttered the same time she said 'I said Ric.' I wasn't laughing too much at him to miss the slight satisfaction in Ric's eyes as he took the ropes from Elena. I bet he loved it when Damon did stupid things that got him hurt.

"All right, let me see," Ric muttered as he started wrapping the rope around the wolf. "All right, that's the last of the vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him off."

I was beyond the point of telling them I was here. It was like I got ignored when I pointed out that I was a witch. If they didn't want my help why did Elena ask me to come?

You know what. If they didn't want my help then I wasn't going to offer it. Call me harsh, but if they were going to ignore the fact that I was the most powerful being here, then they could learn from their mistakes.

"I don't think we're going to make that ridge before the full moon," Ric added, looking up at the sun as it started its descent into setting.

"I did say this wasn't a good idea," I muttered, crossing my arms as I leaned against a tree, watching them from a slight distance. I wasn't comfortable getting too close to the rabid hybrid and I didn't understand why they were standing so close to him either.

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to." There goes Elena with her great mighty plans.

"And how do you intend to do that?" I asked, rolling my eyes as she glared at me over her shoulder. "We've used the last of our vervain, we have hardly any wolfsbane left and he's a supernatural creature, a hybrid. I doubt two humans and a vampire stand much chance against him."

She ignored me as she turned back to the hybrid, her hand reaching out to touch him when he gasped away, his neck cracking to the side as his transformation began.

He screamed out in pain and I cringed as I remembered how Klaus felt the first time he transformed. That had been painful and I wasn't even the wolf.

"Is he turning?" My god. Why were the people I knew so stupid?

"That's impossible, it's still daylight." Thank you for pointing out the obvious Elena.

"Tell him that," Ric said looking on in disgust. At least it seemed Alaric wasn't stating obvious things.

"It's part of the hybrid transformation," I muttered, taking a step back as the wolf thrashed against his ropes. "His body, the wolf side if fighting against the vampire blood. It sets off an early transformation."

"How did you know that?" Elena asked. I actually had no clue. I just knew. "There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full!"

"Technically the moon is full," I said, giving a shrug at the 'really' look Damon sent me as he struggled to hold the wolf. "It's true. The moon just hasn't risen yet."

"You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold the wolf." And there Alaric goes stating the obvious. We could clearly see that the ropes weren't going to hold our new friend, he didn't need to point it out.

"Damon, we've gotta get out of here." At last! Elena was starting to make sense. "We've gotta get out of these mountains now!"

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you listened to me," I muttered, grabbing my bag off the floor and following a retreating Alaric out of the area.

"Damon, now!" I heard Elena shout before they were both following after us as we ran the direction we'd slowly trekked earlier.

I wasn't liking this whole, run for your life thing.

How long had it taken us to get here? Around three hours? Was it me or was there the feeling that perhaps we weren't going to make it out of this alive?

Why did they think we'd be able to make it back to the car and out of here within a couple of minutes when it took us so long to get here?

And to make things much worse, it's like the night descended upon us without warning. How long had we been running? Half an hour tops?

"Urgh!" I hesitated behind Elena as she fell, coming to a stop next to her.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed as I reached down to help her up, freezing upon the aggressive wolf towering over her crouched form.

"Don't move," Damon warned her and she slowly lifted her head up. Why did she move?

The wolf turned to Damon, debating whether to go after a vampire or an easier prey that was already vulnerable. As if I was in tune with the wolf, I jumped the same time he did, getting between Elena and the wolf.

I gasped in pain as the wolf's teeth sunk into my neck and unexpectedly flung him away with my magic upon the contact. I frowned as the wolf turned back to me, his teeth bare as he stalked towards me, ready for another bite.

"Here doggie, doggie," Damon cooed, speeding off, the wolf following him, no doubt in the mindset to hunt down a vampire.

"Oh my god," Elena cried, her hands resting on my neck as she pulled me to rest against her chest. "Why did you do that?"

"You might be annoying, but you don't deserve to die," I muttered, winching in pain as Alaric dabbed a wet cloth against my neck.

"We have to keep moving," he said, helping me to my feet sharing a look with me. Had I been initiated into the 'shared look' club? I defo felt like I knew what he was saying.

"We can't leave Damon!" Elena argued and I almost rolled my eyes. This was what Ric was talking about. Damon was capable of making his own decisions and if he wanted to save us, then that was his choice.

"He can handle himself, let's move."

"No. If he gets bit, he'll be dead," she argued again. "I'm the reason he's out here."

"I told you that earlier," I muttered feeling weaker now as I lost more blood.

"I'm the reason he's out here!" Ric argued back, making me feel worse as I followed their argument like they were playing tennis. It was making me feel sick. "I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go." I was all up for following him. "Elean, now! Effie's losing too much blood."

It was suddenly like she realised I was still here, bleeding out. Bitch, I got this injury saving your life. The least you could do is fucking leave so I can heal this shit.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TheBetterLookingOne - Wow, let me start by saying thank you for such a long, amazing comment. It means a lot to me that you think this is one of the best Klaus/OC fanfictions you’ve ever read, I’ve read a few amazing one myself and never thought to put my work up against theirs and think it was good in comparison. I have to change things because there’s an entirely new character that impacts everyone’s lives. Things can’t stay the same with Ethel in the story as she has relationships with the characters and they would do things to protect her etc. and she’ll change how they see things or how they react. I want them to be the same but I also want them to have to think about Ethel and I want to capture how having them in her life has changed them slightly. Like Damon being her dad, there will be times he will protect/choose her even over Elena (though he may not show it all the time). Ethel definitely gets her sarcasm and funny side from Damon. Could you imagine growing up with him as your father? I’m trying to keep Klaus in character while he also tries to deal with these growing emotions he has for Ethel - he would totally say that he’s not the father of her baby and blame it on the assault she went through even though he knows it’s not true and that it would hurt her. I’m not even sure if I want to delve into The Originals with this story at the moment. I honestly don’t know if Klaus would venture to New Orleans if he was a wife and child on Mystic Falls - do you get me? I can honestly say that Damon will not end up with Elena. I know they got together in the show but I never liked them as a couple. I’m not sure if she’ll end up with Stefan either, I need to come across that later in the chapters when everything becomes clear. I don’t understand a lot of the magic stuff that went on in the show - Bonnie seemed too strong for me (she didn’t have to got through a lot of practice and it seemed to come so easy to her when she didn’t even know what was happening) I do love Bonnie though, so please don’t think I’m hating on her. It just seemed everything was magically solved. About our mysterious vampire lady - I won’t go into that, just know she will be coming back. Klaus is going to go apeshit when he realises that Ethel was attacked while pregnant, he’s defo going to go overprotective to the point it causes arguments between them. Klaus might possibly kill her attacker during prank night, or I might let Caroline have at him again. Sorry it’s taken so long to update, I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> *Shaylakalani501 - Thank you for the comment. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I’m sorry for such a long wait. This one was taking it’s time to come out. It was just stuck in my head and I couldn’t squeeze it out until this morning.  
> *kasiaploszke2000 - I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for your comment x  
> *Valarmorghulisdohaeris - It’s not a 1000 chapters, but it is over 3000 words long so I hope you enjoy that. Much love and appreciation for your comment.


	25. All Is Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your comments. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. You can find my replies at the bottom in the endnotes xx

**Sorry about the wait. I also apologies for any mistakes.**

**Please enjoy this chapter. Much love, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**ALL IS REVEALED**

* * *

I think I might have been exaggerating earlier when I said it took us nearly three hours to get into the mountains. It definitely didn't take us that long to get to the safety of Alaric's car.

Elena was pouting but Alaric was more focused on me and all the blood I'd lost.

I was starting to feel tired and against Ric's better judgement I'd drifted off to sleep only waking twenty minutes later when Elena started complaining again.

Could she go twenty minutes without complaining?

"Hey, are you okay?" Ric asked, tapping my shoulder lightly before tilting my head to the side to take a quick look at my neck.

"I'm fine," I told him, actually feeling better. "I don't feel tired anymore." Where the bite mark was, over the scar Klaus had given me, it no longer ached and it no longer felt like there was any pain coming from the wound.

If I wasn't slightly tired from the attack I wouldn't have even known I was attacked if it weren't for the blood-soaked bandage covering my neck.

"What? That's not possible," he muttered his fingers grazing my neck.

"What?" I asked, fearing I had something wrong with me.

"Damon!" Elena shouted, getting out of the car and heading towards the pissed off vampire. This also meant to cut off what Alaric was about to say.

"Get back in the car," Damon told her, pushing her back into Ric's car. His eyes settled on me and I knew I was in trouble. He slid his arm around my back and helped me from the back seat. "Take Elena home, we'll follow behind."

"Damon we need–"

"No! You don't get to demand what we need. You almost got my daughter killed! If you think I'm willing to let you keep us out here in the face of danger then you are sorely mistaken. Go home."

And with that he sped off, settling me in the front seat of his car not too far away.

"I'm alright," I assured him, resting my hand on his as he tried to get a look at my wound.

"You're not alright, you almost got your head ripped off." I hadn't seen him this pissed in a long time. "You've healed," he muttered, his fingers running over where the large bite mark had been. "Do you have vampire blood in your system?"

"No. You know how mum feels about that. Anyway, why would I need vampire blood in me anyway? Klaus isn't around the corner so–" I paused at the mention of Klaus and rested my hand over my stomach. Would that even be possible?

"What? What is it?"

I guess there was no better time to tell Damon about his intended grandfatherhood. I couldn't keep it a secret forever and he'd be able to pick up the heartbeat soon.

"Umm, so you know that deal I made with Klaus? The one where I bound myself to him to save you? Yeah well, it also needed us to bind ourselves together through 'the body' which meant we had to sleep together." His anger was rapidly rising. If I saw him angry at just the mention of me kissing Klaus, he was a hundred times worse now. "Yeah well that night ended up with me getting pregnant, so in a way, I do have vampire blood in me, her blood."

"What?"

Oh shit. He was furious. I hadn't seen him like this in a long time.

"It's happened now, we can't change it so just forget about it so we can—"

"Forget about it? The only way I can forget about it is if you get rid of it!" he snapped, causing my throat to dry up and my eyes to well.

"How could you even say a thing like that?"

I had never been terrified of my father before, but now, as we sat in his car I feared him more than I'd feared anything.

"Klaus is evil!" He said it as if it was a fact. In some eyes, he might be seen as evil, but Caroline had been rubbing off on me. He was just misunderstood. He went to great lengths to get what was taken from him and it was his own mother that betrayed him. "That thing you're carrying is evil like its father, and you should do the world some good and destroy it."

"Can you even hear yourself? This is your grandchild, your granddaughter. You want me to kill her? I might as well kill myself while I'm at it because if you think I'm going to let anyone harm or kill her without dying next to her then you are mistaken, Damon!"

"Ethel, you're not thinking straight, that thing inside you is clearly corrupting your mind, you need to sort it out before—"

I had never needed or wanted to raise my hand to him but my actions were out of my control and I felt better after smacking him across the face.

"I can understand that you dislike Klaus, but this child is not her father. She hasn't even been born yet and you've already judged her."

"Well, her father isn't the best role model," he muttered, speeding to his side of the car and starting the engine.

"I haven't got the best role model," I argued, giving him a pointed look. "You're not the best father either Damon, you've killed people, innocent people, yet I still love you."

"And you think he's going to love her?"

"I don't intend to tell him about her."

"What? Why not?"

What was wrong with him?

One second he was against me having this baby and now he was disapproving of me not telling Klaus she existed.

"I don't think it's the best thing for her." I had thought about it and if my dream told me anything it was that he wouldn't be able to handle the news. "He's done too many things that draw bad attention to him. He has enemies that would do anything to hurt him and I don't want them coming after her to get at him."

"You're already thinking like a mother," Damon said, resting his hand on my knee and giving it a little squeeze. "But I'm not sure if you're doing the right thing. I never supported your mother when she kept you from your father. I might not have known I was Lockwood, but I told her plenty of times that it wasn't fair to you. You had me, but there was always him and you should have gotten the chance to meet him."

"I don't think I ever needed him, Damon," I said, giving a little shrug and grasping his hand in mine. "You were never the best father figure. You took me to a bar when I was three and a strip club when I was five. I saw you kill a man when I was four and I walked in on one of your threesomes when I was seven. You haven't ever won any father of the year awards but you've always been there for me and that's more than what he did."

"I took your mother away from you. You spent the first nine years of your life being neglected by her and I was almost always a little pissed in your teens."

"But because of you I still have my mother in my life. You gave her the option to stay with me even if she was absent. I have her now and that's what counts. Besides, you weren't the worst parent figure to have. I'm well-travelled for a seventeen-year-old."

"Urgh, my god, you're a pregnant teenager," he muttered in disgust. "Here I was thinking you were probably going to die at seventeen and instead you're pregnant."

"I know you, Damon. You're not happy about it, you made that clear but you won't let any harm come to her." I pushed his hand away as I shifted to look at him. "I forgive you for what you said, but don't think I will ever forget it. I shouldn't forgive you but I know you're a natural arsehole and you can't help it," I said giving him a sad smile. It was hard having him as a father sometimes. He was a naturally destructive person and he spent a lot of time resenting himself and a lot of the time he took his frustrations out on those he cared for, hence the bad relationship between him and Stefan. "Besides, I'm telling Jenna what you said."

* * *

Jenna was waiting outside the cottage when Damon pulled up, her face a frown of thunder and her foot tapping against the floor.

Damon the coward didn't even leave the car as I got out, just unrolled the window as I made my way over to mother number two.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself?"

"Your niece is a nasty bitch who can't take no for an answer," I told her, not really caring that I was disrespecting Elena. Jenna knew how Elena got. It was for that exact reason she'd moved in with me.

"Where have you been?"

"We thought it would be a fantastic idea to go on a hike in the wolf infested mountains, you know, get our steps up," I muttered, turning back to glare at Damon as he decided to keep quiet.

"You're hurt!" She touched the bandage on my neck lightly before glaring at Damon too. "Why did you let her go?"

"Hey, I didn't let anyone go anywhere. And before you mention it, yes, I am aware of Baby Klaus and it's for that particular reason why she's on house arrest for the next month," Damon argued, smirking in my direction as if he'd been keeping the best secret in the world.

"I am not staying here with her for an entire month!" Jenna argued. For a moment, it felt like they were my divorced parents fighting over custody but in this case, neither one of them wanted me.

"Hey! Let's not argue about it. Why don't we say I have designated days with everyone? I'll spend Mondays' with Tyler, Tuesdays' with Matt, Wednesdays' with Bonnie, Thursdays' with Alaric, Fridays' with Damon, Saturdays' with Jenna, and Sundays' with Caroline? Or some schedule like that? I might spend more days with Caroline or whatever?"

"I mean, it's not unreasonable," Jenna muttered, shrugging her shoulders as she shared a look with Damon. "How are we going to get everyone to agree though?"

"My God, why don't we tell them about the baby? I'm sure they'll all have the reasons for wanting to keep their eyes on me," I said, feeling frustrated with the way they were both acting as if I was five and needed constant watching.

"I guess that could work." Jenna was taking this a little too seriously. It was like she was planning a group meeting with her college lot and needed to know every detail about their life. "When shall we tell them?"

"Just ask them all round to the Boarding House tomorrow for dinner and we'll drop the bomb on them there. You better invite Elena and Jeremy too, I'm not having this kept as a secret from anyone, especially Elena," I said to them both before leaving them outside as I stumbled up to my room.

Elean caused too much drama for my liking. I was going to have a nice relaxing bath and then I was going to call my Hybrid husband and have a little chat about his experiment gone wrong.

* * *

I had to stop myself from drifting off in the bath three times before I decided it was probably best to get out. And it was as I was getting dressed that I found I was beyond exhausted that I was reminded of the night's events. I still had to call Klaus.

"Hello, love, I don't think this is the best time," he muttered as I settled on the bed, flicking through the muted channels on the telly.

"Because of the failed Hybrid?" I asked, reaching over and grabbing a packet of crisps - I annoyed Caroline by my use of English terms. We often got things mixed up because of it.

"You know about the Hybrids?"

"No. I knew about the Hybrid, the one in the mountains that attacked. Was there more than one?" I asked, sitting up slightly at this news. I should have known he would have tried transforming the entire pack but I thought he would have waited to see if it worked on one first.

"You were attacked?"

"By your male one. He didn't look very good, to be honest. Damon dealt with him."

"What were you doing out in the mountains?"

Oh. How was I meant to explain this? 'Yeah, we were just looking for Stefan, you know, because Elena, that's his girlfriend, wanting to take him back from your evil clutches.'

For some reason, I didn't think that was going to go down well with him.

"Damon just wanted to check up on Stefan. We weren't even meant to get caught up in your drama, but you know how things turn out." It seemed like a reasonable excuse.

"I'm liking him less and less, love," he muttered and I could hear how stressed he was.

"How many did you turn?"

"A whole pack and not blood one of them took to the transformation," he growled, and I pictured him pacing the room where he was.

I had to wonder, due to Elena being alive whether that was the reason his Hybrids weren't working. Would Stefan tell him? Would he give away that she was alive? He didn't really have a choice if he was compelled.

"What are you going to do?"

"I should have tested it out first on Ray." I assumed this was the wolf that attacked last night. "When it didn't work on him, I could have saved the others for when I figured it out."

"I'm sure there's a reason for it, Klaus," I muttered, not really wanting to get too into it because I didn't want to upset him. "Look, why don't you try and figure it out and I'll see if I can get any information from my ancestors and see if they can help." I mean, they were pretty keen on getting him into the family, so they might have some answers.

"I've got a few witches I can pay a visit to," he replied and I could hear a hint of a smirk in his voice.

"Don't go killing them if they can't help you, Klaus. Witches are a dying out and I think you may be responsible for that, so please keep your anger to yourself when they say they can't help you," I said, hoping, even if he wasn't head-over-heels in love with me, perhaps he'd feel like he had to protect my 'species' because he was married into a long line of witches.

"Would it anger your ancestors, love?" He was being cheeky now, but considering my ancestors technically helped to create witches then, yes, I'm sure he'd anger them.

"I'm sure it might as I doubt you want to risk that, especially considering how your mother was," I said, reminding him how he got into his locked werewolf predicament in the first place.

"Oh, don't be touchy, love, I won't hurt any of them," he promised and I had to wonder how strong his promises were. If he got truly angered then surely he would kill them without thinking about me.

"Klaus, you're not exactly the most liked man out there, you've got a bit of a reputation for being a violent killer," I told him, knowing part of me was saying this because of the baby. In a way, I guess I was trying to find a way to put distance between us now before she was born.

I was so caught in between telling him and keeping it hidden from him. Perhaps it was best to tell him when I was safely out of the first trimester. Which, if my calculations were right, was the end of July. God, could I really go through the rest of June and the whole of July without telling him about the baby?

It was only five weeks. But a lot could change in five weeks. I could even lose the baby, hopefully not, but I didn't want to tell him and then something like that happen. But did I really want to not tell him and then lose the baby?

"You alright, love? You've gone quiet on me."

"Oh, sorry I was just thinking about what could have gone wrong tonight. Did they transition fully? Have human blood after they died?"

"Yes, yes. I gave them my blood, snapped their necks and they consumed human blood upon waking." He sounded like he didn't understand why I was going over things, but there was always a loophole in curses like his.

Surely this didn't have anything to do with Elena being alive.

I understood there was a curse and she was needed to help break it but why would she be needed for Klaus to create more Hybrids? There was doppelganger blood in their transition to becoming vampires, but was it needed for him to create more of his kind?

"You should try feeding them your blood when they wake up. It might be needed on both ends of their transition," I said, rubbing my hand over my face as I tried to figure this out. It shouldn't be this stressful.

"Well, I'm going to need to find some more werewolves then."

"I heard there's some up by the Canadian Rockies, but if you don't want to go that far there's a small pack down in Oregon," I told him, feeling that some part of me had to help him out. "Just don't kill the whole pack this time, Klaus. Just try it on one and stick to the full moon. It might be more effective then, especially since you broke your curse on a full moon."

"You know, I never thought how useful it was to have a witch as a wife," he muttered, I could hear the smile on his lips.

"You agreed to the marriage because I was a witch and don't say otherwise," I said rolling my eyes. I blinked as I realised how tired I was and glanced at the clock to see it was two in the morning.

"How's your arm?" Huh? Oh, yeah. I completely forgot about my arm. It hadn't been hurting me much and I guess it had something to do with the baby and the vampire blood in my system.

"It doesn't bother me much but Damon has put me on house arrest for the foreseeable future."

"Ah, something I can agree with at last."

"It's summer. I'm supposed to be enjoying myself. I was planning on going to New York with Caroline but I think we're going to give it a miss now," I said, thinking about the little invader inside me. She'd put a hold on a lot of things. "I'm going to do some home decoration and change a few things in the cottage."

"Did you get my flowers?"

"Flowers?"

"I guess you were too busy frolicking around the mountains tonight to receive them." He sounded pissed. Was this going to be a problem for us if he ever returned? Would he be controlling? I had a feeling he would be. "I sent you sunflowers again. Caroline mentioned they were your favourites."

"They are and I really appreciate you sending me flowers every week, Klaus. I'm sure you've got better things to do."

"I'll always find the time for you, Little Witch." It was sweet and I really appreciated it. "Thank you for helping me with my Hybrid problem. I was expecting you to be against it."

"I am against it, Klaus. I don't agree with you turning them against their will. If you can find a wolf that will accept this gift you have then please feel free to change them, but before you do, please find out if the transformation works. I don't agree with your mass murder of an entire pack. Werewolves are a dying species and they don't need you adding to their death count."

"Well, if you can find me a compliant wolf then I'd be more than willing to offer them freedom from the full moon."

"How about you focus on whether you're able to transform them with your blood for the moment. I'll look deeper into it and see if I can find anything that can help."

"I'm not liking this," he said and although he couldn't see my frown, I couldn't help when it formed on my face.

"What?"

"You're taking control. I'm the one in control."

"Well, you married a witch, Klaus. I'm always in control," I said, taunting him a little down the phone as I shifted and climbed under the covers.

"What's that saying, love? Happy wife, happy life?"

"Yes. And if you ever want to have sex again, you better keep me happy."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sarah - Thank you for your comment. I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> *Mikaelsonheart - Well, it will be a while until Klaus finds out about the baby. And I’m sure we’re all going to expect his reaction. Thank you for your comment x  
> *Anime_Amelie - I really tried to have this story so she didn’t end up pregnant this early in the story but all these fantastic ideas kept popping into my head and I needed to add it into the story earlier. I can already see Klaus becoming overprotective of her, he sort of is now and he doesn’t even know she’s pregnant. Thank you for your comment and thank you for reading this story.  
> *Charchampagne - Thank you for your comment. I’m not after interesting comments, the fact that you even commented in the first place means a lot to me too.


	26. A Family Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it has taken me ages to update. INTERNET PROBLEMS.  
> Also, work has been crazy for the last couple of weeks.
> 
> I replied to your comments and you can find them below.   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter xx

**Sorry, it's been a long time. This chapter was really hard to write for some reason. I've also been having internet trouble and could never log on to upload.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologise for any mistakes.**

**Love, Comet96 xx**

* * *

**A FAMILY DINNER**

* * *

Everyone made it to the Boarding House for dinner. Jenna and Caroline helped me make meatballs and tagliatelle, one of my favourite dishes. I loved Italian food. Caroline was making a rainbow salad to go with it and Jenna, to our surprise, made four garlic baguettes.

Damon had made a tiramisu, one with hardly any alcohol due to the baby.

"I need you to cook for me all the time," Tyler muttered as he eyed up the food as Caroline helped me plate it.

"Yeah, I'll take seconds on that," Matt said, grabbing the cutlery from the drawer and taking it into the dining room.

"Okay, grab a plate and head for the table," I said, waving everyone forward and grabbing Jenna's plate as she took the garlic bread through.

Everyone settled around the table, passing the garlic bread and salad around before we all dug in.

Damon had set out a couple of bottles of wine, mainly merlot, but there was a bottle of white for Jenna, who had taken a fancy to his expensive chardonnay. It was funny that he got a couple of bottles of wine out, one for him, one for Alaric and one for Jenna, the rest of us couldn't legally drink.

"Why are we here?"

Well, we all knew Elena was going to get to the point sooner or later.

I shared a glance with Caroline trying to go over the plan we had set up about how I was going to break the news to everyone. Caroline gave me an encouraging nod and touched her elbow softly against mine.

"I wanted to share some news with the family," I said, indicating that everyone here was family. Matt seemed surprised that I included him, but in my mind, he was family. "Umm, so yeah, err, I'm pregnant and err the father is Klaus."

One.

Two.

Three.

"What?"

"What do you mean you're pregnant?!"

"Fucking hell!"

"Jeremy!"

"You're a slut."

"Elena!"

"Look, I know it's a lot to take in but it's happened. I'm pregnant and my daughter is going to be brought into this world and she's going to be part of this family," I said glaring at Elena as she scoffed. "If anyone has a problem with this they're free to share their opinion but nothing is going to change the fact that she will be born."

"You're making a mistake," Elena said, placing her glass on the table with a heavy bang. "Klaus is going to come back because of that brat and he's going to find me and I'm going to end up dead."

"Everything's not about you, Elena." I was surprised that it was Jeremy arguing against his sister.

"Jeremy!" she shouted, shocked that her brother was going against her.

"You might not be happy about it Elena but when my niece is brought into this world I'll be there to love her."

"Your niece? She's not your sister, Jer! I am!"

"Ethel's been more of a sister to me in the last couple of weeks than you have. All you think about is Stefan. You haven't even asked me how I've been since I died. At least Ethel helps me sleep when I wake up from the nightmares," he argued, glaring at his sister.

He shrugged off Jenna's hand as she tried to calm him. He was right though. Why should he be on Elena's side just because she was his sister? He was just proving to her that family didn't always mean blood relatives.

We were a bunch of misfits here but we were all family.

"I can't wait to have a niece," Tyler announced, coming to my side and pressing a kiss to my cheek. "When's she getting here?"

"The doctor said early February," I replied, smiling slightly as he gave me a pointed look. We were both born early February, only a couple of days between us.

"You reckon one of us would share a birthday?"

"I hope not," I laughed, shaking my head. "She'd be a bit late if she came on one of our birthdays. Caroline thinks she's going to come on January 28th."

"Are we gonna place bets?" Tyler asked, a gleam in his eyes as he looked around the table.

"Okay, I say February 5th," Jenna said, pulling her phone out and setting up a note with everyone's guesses on.

"I'm thinking January 16th," said Bonnie, a small smile on her lips.

"That early?" I asked, not liking the idea of her being three weeks early.

"It would be funny if she was born on Christmas," said Jeremy, giving a laugh.

"She'd be a preemie baby if she was born on Christmas," I told him hating the idea of her being six weeks early.

"Well, hopefully, because of her father's vampire and werewolf side and her mother's witch and werewolf side she'll be a healthy baby no matter how early she is," Alaric said, giving me a reassuring smile as I worried about her coming too early.

"Speaking of the father," Jenna said, causing silence to go around the table. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I think I am," I said, rubbing my hand over my flat stomach and looking at Damon and then at Tyler. "I never got to know my real father and I don't want that for her. I think in some ways, Klaus isn't the best father figure for her, but he is her father and he has the right to know about her. I also think I'm going to wait until I get into the second trimester before I tell him. At least I'll know I'm out of the woods for first-trimester miscarriage."

"Are you sure you want to tell him?" Bonnie asked, in a curious way. It wasn't her judging or being mean, she was generally curious.

"It would be selfish of me to keep it from him. She wouldn't be here without him and she's not just mine. I have my fears. Every new mother does, but I've got supernatural fears too. What if a vampire that wants revenge on Klaus comes after her? What if a werewolf pack wants to hunt her down because she's a tribrid? There's a lot of witches out there that hate vampires, what if one decides to come after her because of her family? I know my fears may seem stupid. I'm strong enough to protect her but I'm afraid I won't be enough. I need him. More than I think I realised."

I think I spooked everyone by the intensity of my words. I know Bonnie wasn't expecting that from her question but it was like once I started I couldn't stop.

"You're not alone, though," Tyler said, resting his hand on my shoulder just as Caroline took my hand in hers. "You have all of us and we'll help you protect her."

"Baby Mikalson will be the most protected baby in the world," Caroline promised, rubbing her thumb over my palm.

"And hell will be brought down on anyone that wants to lay a finger on her," Jenna said, giving me an assuring smile.

"Especially when Klaus finds out," Damon added. He almost seemed excited at the idea.

"He'll just bring hell to us," Elena grumbled, crossing her arms as everyone ignored her.

It was about time she realised everything wasn't about her and she wasn't the sole focus of everyone's world.

* * *

Everyone seemed to be on board with the 'no one leaves Effie alone' plan. The following Monday after the reveal of the baby, I had Caroline, Tyler and Matt hanging at the cottage as they insisted we all have a movie night.

That somehow ended up with me agreeing to apply for the waitress job at the Grill just because Matt was talking about how stressful it was without the extra hand.

What was more surprising was the fact that the owner gave me the job even though he knew I was pregnant.

So for the last three weeks, I'd been doing a Monday lunch shift, a Wednesday evening shift, a Friday morning shift, and the breakfast rush hour shift in Saturday, When Matt was working, he'd be keeping an eye on me but when he wasn't, you could often find everyone else frequenting the Grill throughout the day.

"I don't understand why you're working here," Caroline muttered as I joined her and Tyler in their booth at the end of my shift.

"If you need money," Tyler said trailing off.

"I don't need the money, but Matt needed the extra help here and I've got nothing better to do." I grabbed the plate that contained my burger and chips and dug in. "And I feel bad that everyone's wasting their time throughout the summer watching me. It wasn't even my idea to go Stefan hunting so why should I get blamed for it and put on watch?"

"I think it's more to do with the baby," Tyler said, his eyes flicking to my stomach hidden under the table. "And the fact that an unknown vampire is hunting you down."

"I'm a witch," I said, rolling my eyes as they shared a look. "I can protect myself if needed alright."

"But we're saying you don't need to protect yourself," Caroline said, reaching out over the table and taking my hand in hers. "It would kill us if anything happened to you and the baby."

"I get that, I really do, Caroline, but I hate that you're all wasting your summer watching me."

"We're not wasting our summer. We usually hang out at the Grill all the time anyway, plus you've got a nice house where we hang out and you feed us all the time."

She wasn't making a good argument, but I could see that she really did believe she wasn't wasting her time on me.

"I already missed out on seventeen years of your life," Tyler said, nudging me with his foot. "I'm not complaining if I get to spend my summer with you."

"You don't need to be nice to me just because you want to date my best friend, Tyler. I may be your sister, but I don't control Caroline. If you want to ask her out, do it."

"Ehtel!" they both said, their faces turning red as they tried to ignore their growing feelings for each other.

"Look, life's too short to be worrying about the silly things. You both care about each other so why not get it over with and date? You," I turned to Caroline, "nag me all the time about Klaus. Take your own advice."

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Caroline asked as she followed me into the house and set the shopping bags down. She was looking down at my new purchase, a small pout on her lips.

"You're just upset because I didn't go for the girl," I said, looking down at the two-year-old husky as he sat obediently at my feet.

"No. I'm happy you got him. I'm just not sure about his name."

"Wolf is a very good name for a husky," I argued, rubbing him on the head and smiling as he looked up at me.

"I still don't know why you got a dog."

"I've always wanted one but Damon wouldn't let me have one as we moved around a lot. Now that I have a permanent home, I can get a dog."

"Is there another reason?"

"I heard they could be protective of children." I wasn't afraid to admit I was being a little paranoid when it came to protecting my baby.

"Maybe you should–" Caroline was cut off by my phone going off and I celebrated when I saw Klaus was calling.

"Hello, husband."

"I just got a bill of five thousand dollars for a husky." Cue the silence. "Did you buy a dog, Ethel?"

"Yes."

"A husky?" It's like he couldn't believe it.

"His name's Wolf."

"Are you being serious? Why would you spend that much on a dog?"

"Well, I wanted to be sure he was fully trained and was good at guarding for when the baby arrived."

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

"Klaus? Klaus, are you there?" I shared a look with Caroline and pulled my phone back to see if he was still there to find it dead. "What the fuck?" My phone shouldn't be dead, it had an almost full battery.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, coming closer

"I don't know but something's going on," I muttered, walking over to the sunroom and glancing around. I didn't know what it was I was looking for but I knew I'd find it here.

There was something strange going on.

It almost felt like I was being watched.

"Caroline we need to call Charlie."

* * *

Charlie was here within the hour. One bonus to being able to teleport.

He shared the same uncomfortable, confused look on his face as he moved around the cottage.

"It's a witch," he said, his eyes roaming over the kitchen. Wolf was following him around, his nose sniffing at the floor as he stalked Charlie. I thought it was adorable, Charlie thought it was annoying.

"What do you mean a witch?" I asked, crossing my arms as I shared a look with Caroline.

"An old one, no wait, she's reaching you from the Inbetween."

"Well, that's just what I need," I huffed, jumping up and sitting on the island as I glared at my cousin. "Can you stop it?"

"It? She's powerful, Effie, you don't want to mess with her," Charlie warned, squinting his eyes at me. "What have you done to piss off someone from the grave?"

"I haven't done anything!"

"What were you doing when she first made her presence known?"

"I was calling Klaus to tell him about the … oh."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant."

Really blunt, Ethel. Good job there.

"Why am I not surprised?" He didn't even bat an eyelid at the news. "And I assume Klaus is the father?"

"Of course he is, though I'm still trying to figure out how that's possible."

"I had an idea," Caroline muttered, ignoring the look I sent her. While her idea was correct, I didn't know if it was reasonable enough for an explanation. At Charlie's raised eyebrows she went on to explain. "He was born a werewolf and then turned into a vampire. Because he's a born wolf it makes sense that he can father children."

"She's not too far off. It could be the reason why he fathered your child, but there could also be help from witches. I'll have to look into it." Charlie had a pondering look on his face before he reached down and rubbed between Wolf's ears. "He can sense it, you know, the baby."

"You mean the wolf part of her?"

"Yeah. He'll think she's pack," he grumbled, running his hands over his ears.

"Well, I guess that's good then?" Caroline asked, frowning at the smug look I sent her.

"Are you going to go now?" I asked, turning back to Charlie. I didn't want him to leave but knowing he still had some training to undergo I knew he wouldn't stay long. Our grandmothers wouldn't allow it.

"I promised I'd be back within the hour."

"How am I supposed to deal with this witch?"

"I'll look into it, but for the time being, perhaps it's best you don't tell Klaus about the baby. I fear what might happen to you if he finds out."

"You think this witch would hurt me?"

"We won't know until I find out who it is." He took my hands in his and pulled me into a hug, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. "Be careful and call me if you need anything."

"I miss you."

"Miss you too," he said before disappearing.

I know he said it, but it felt like he didn't miss me. Ever since Klaus broke his curse and Luke died it felt like a massive wedge had been shoved between us.

"What do we do now?" Caroline asked, frowning at the spot where Charlie has been.

"We become Elena, Caroline." At her confused look, I smiled brightly and winked at her. "We become boring bitches."

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *RoseBellaElizabethVictoria - I think Ethel sees that he's not truly 'evil' as everyone puts it. He's just been acting out because he was cursed and his life was ruined because of it. He's never gotten to be his true self because there's been a part of him that was missing. I also think that him creating the Hybrids wasn't really about having an army and having all this power but because he didn't want to be alone. She would probably do anything for Klaus as long as it didn't bring her baby to any harm. She wants them to raise their child together because while she had Damon and her mum, she never really had that, especially because her mum was a new-born vampire and was absent throughout her childhood. Plus, she never got to know her real father.
> 
> *Thehelldoievenputhere - Sorry about this really long wait. As mentioned before, I've had some struggles with this chapter and my internet wouldn't even let me log onto Google Docs to work on the story and there's only so much I can write on my phone. I hope you enjoy this chapter xx
> 
> *Alex - Klaus I going to no doubt insult her and state that the baby isn't his, because we all know that he thinks it's impossible. Though he will also know it's not true and that the baby is his because of their bond. He would know if she cheated on him.
> 
> *Prachylvke - Thank you. Klaus id such a complex character that I sometimes struggle with him. I don't want to change his character much, but there will be some changes due to his relationship with Ethel. I haven't stopped writing, just struggles with this chapter and had a few tough weeks at work. I'm glad this story has gotten you into reading fanfictions again, that's awesome!! I'm not sure how I'll make Ethel less quirky, I mean that's her character. I feel if I change that then she wouldn't be who she is. I can see your point, but I'm not sure if I agree that she is a 'Mary-Sue' and I don't really see there being a problem if she is ... But I would love for you or anyone one else to point out some of her Mary-Sue traits if possible. At this point in time, there won't really be any reason for her and Caroline to have any drama and there will be no point within this story where Klaus and Caroline have feelings for each other. Sorry if you don't like that, but Klaus is devoted to Ethel. Thank you for your comment and I hope you enjoyed this chapter x


	27. A Pain In the Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter. You can find replies to the last chapters comments in the endnotes.

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry for any mistakes and please enjoy x**

* * *

**A PAIN IN THE HEART**

* * *

"I don't appreciate you hanging up on me, love," Klaus muttered when I called him back that night, I rolled my eyes as I sat in bed flicking through the channels as I ran my fingers through Wolf's fur.

"My battery died," I told him, as I looked down at Wolf as he turned his head up to look at me. It was like he knew I was lying to Klaus. "Shh," I whispered, biting my lip as he grumbled in that cute way dogs did when they were talking to you.

"Have you got that dog in our bed?" I had no idea why my heart fluttered at his words.

"It's actually my bed," I said, running my fingers between Wolf's ears. "But yes, he is in my bed."

"I'll have you know that we did a lot of sexual, dirty things in that bed, Ethel, I can assure you that it is now our bed," Klaus purred and I almost hid under my covers in embarrassment.

"Is Stefan with you?" I asked, feeling flustered at the thought that he might overhear Klaus. I knew he knew we were married but I really didn't need him overhearing what went on behind closed doors.

"He's out. Don't ruin my fun by making me think of him." I could sense that there was something wrong with him.

"Klaus, are you alright? You sound off."

"If I'm being honest, My Little Witch, I'm feeling a little frustrated."

"Oh. What happened? Are you struggling to find the wolves? The full moons not until next week, they might not be in the mountains yet, perhaps you should wait it out a little—"

"Not that sort of frustrated, love."

Okay, cue my embarrassment.

"Oh."

"You're such a naive little thing, aren't you?"

"Why do you sound like you're enjoying this?" I huffed in annoyance, placing my hand on my stomach at the reminder of the only time I'd had sex. God. I was that stereotypical girl that fell pregnant the first time she had sex.

To be honest, you wouldn't have been able to tell I was pregnant. There was no miraculous baby bump. I looked slightly bloated and my breasts were a little sensitive from growing. That wasn't something I was looking forward to. I was already somewhat large breasted, I didn't need them to be any bigger thank you.

"It gives me great pleasure knowing I've been the only man between your legs," he said, the smirk evident in his voice.

"Do you have to be so crude? You could have put in a nicer way. My god, to think I'm married to a caveman," I grumbled, smiling in satisfaction when he moaned at my caveman comment.

"I may have lived in a cave, but that was only during the full moon."

"To hide away from the wolves. Do you not find it funny how they're hiding away from you now? Big Bad Hybrid? Perhaps you should be nicer to them, my dear. Give them the option instead of forcing it upon them."

"You think they'd want it if given the choice?" He wasn't angry like I expected him to be. He generally sounded curious.

"Would you have prefered to be given the choice when your mother turned you into a vampire? You all went into that blind. And from my understanding, your brother Elijah told me that your brother Kol was a witch. I can tell you know, Klaus, that he wouldn't have given up his magic to live forever."

"I know."

"Just think about it, please. You know how it feels to have your choice taken away from you and your new hybrids might appreciate you taking this into account."

"You're too innocent for me, Ethel."

He sounded sad as he admitted this and while we both knew it was true, I couldn't help but think that perhaps we were always meant to be bound together. That I was meant to be with him.

"I don't believe that, Klaus."

* * *

The hopeful look on Caroline's face was almost as bad as the smug look on Damon's. I had no idea what the two of them had been thinking when they came up with this, but I'd let them go on with their experiment for the last week.

"And you think it's going to work?" I asked, rubbing my fingers through the fur Wolf's head as I glanced between the two vampires.

"Well he seems to have gotten the hang of it," Caroline said, nodding her head enthusiastically as she shared a glance with Damon.

"We just need to test it out long distance. If he can get to us before you have to result in using your magic then that's better than you stressing out," Damon said, giving his shoulders a shrug as if it would explain everything.

It did actually. It explained why they'd brought me into the middle of the forest where there was complete silence. If they wanted to test out how far Wolf could track them then this was the perfect spot to try it.

They also didn't want me to use my magic too much in fear that it would stress out the baby and do more damage. I wasn't comfortable with that, not having my powers to help protect me, but I was willing, reluctantly, to give their plan a shot.

"Okay, go ahead then," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked between them both and they vanished within seconds. "Umm, go find Caroline, Wolf," I told him, giving him a little nod in the direction she shot off in.

And I was left.

I closed my eyes as I leaned my face up to the sun, sighing deeply as I rested my hands over my stomach and thought about Klaus. I needed to tell him about the baby soon, but if this bitchwitch was going to keep getting in the way then I needed him to see. Would it be completely bad of me to ask him to come home?

"Hello."

I opened my eyes and looked at the woman standing in front of me. Her dark eyes were almost glowing with something as she looked over me, her eyes dropping to my hands on my stomach.

"Who are you?" I asked, taking a step back as her eyes flickered up to me, a nasty smirk crossing her face. I didn't like the feeling she was giving off.

"Sweet Ethel, how you have grown," she drawled, speeding towards me, her hand resting on the base of my throat as her other hand twirled a strand of my hair through her fingers. "You're like your mother, but prettier."

"Ruby, stop!" My eyes widened in surprise as my mum sped over and caught the woman's hands and pulled her away from me. "You stay away from her," mum warned, taking a step in front of me as Ruby paced in front of us.

"I warned you, Rose. I was going to find her and I have."

"She has nothing to do with this, Ruby, she's just a girl," mum argued, her body tense ready to fight.

"A girl? Have you seen her, Rose? Can you hear it? That little flutter of life inside her. She's not a girl, not with that monster inside her."

"We've been over this, Ruby, that baby is not a monster."

"You were there when your mother had her premonition. You've seen what will happen when that child is born, what Klaus will do."

"My grandchild will not bring the end to us all, Ruby, you're deranged."

"Markus believed me and you feared what he could do, that's why you killed him." Ruby shook her head, the dark hair shaking around her face as her eyes settled back on me, her eyes narrowing. "You fear it's going to come true, Rose, why else would you stop me from ending her."

"She's my daughter, Ruby, that's why I'm stopping you." Mum shook her head as she looked at Ruby, there was pity in her voice when she spoke again. "You won't understand seeing as you're not a mother."

"And who took that away from me!"

"You asked for this, Ruby, I didn't take anything you weren't offering. It was your choice, becoming a vampire. You begged me to turn you."

Ruby turned her back to us, her hands being brought up to her chest as she muttered to herself. She was almost curling in on herself as she hunched forward.

"I have to do it, I have to," Ruby muttered, her voice drifting over to us as mum stepped closer to me, her body moved in front of mine. "She promised me that Marcus will come back, that I'll be with him."

"Marcus is dead, Ruby, he won't ever come back," mum told her softly, her hand moving down and taking hold of mine. "You know this, Ruby."

"But, but she's a witch, she told me there are ways." Ruby turned around, her eyes flitting between me and mum before settling on me. "She said I have to kill. With you gone, Klaus goes and there will be no chance of any child. Yes, yes, I'll do it."

She was sounding a little crazy and I wasn't sure what was wrong with her. I'd never seen a vampire act like this before and had to wonder if she'd been put under some spell or something.

"Ruby, we can talk about this," mum said, taking a step forward but stopped as Ruby wrapped her arm around her and mum slumped into her.

It took me a second to realise what had happened and it was only when my mum dropped to the floor, the stake in her heart evidence that Ruby had actually killed her.

I staggered back, my body falling to the floor as I stared in disbelief at the body of my mum. My heart staggered in my chest, painfully fighting to burst from my ribcage as I struggled to wrap my mind over what had just happened.

A scream burst from my lips, and I felt myself snap as I set my eyes on Ruby. the bubbling in my stomach was taking control as I slowly rose to my feet and glared at her. I didn't even need to think about what I was going to do to her when she burst into flames, her screams envying mine as she fell to the floor.

The flames went out as a hand settled on my shoulder and I spun seeing the familiar dark eyes of Elena.

Wait, no.

"Katherine?"

"Yes, Little Witch," she said, tucking my hair behind my ear as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to my head. She ran her fingers down my face, giving me a sad smile before going over to Ruby as she groaned, her body burnt and smoking on the floor. "Adios bitch," Katherine said, her hand plunging into her chest and pulling out her heart.

I didn't understand what Katherine was doing here but I really didn't care. Not when I could see the dissected face of my mother staring at me.

"Mummy," I cried, crawling over to her and gently bringing her into my lap as I cradled her head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

This was my fault. I hesitated in using my magic against Ruby. I didn't know what she wanted, I didn't know what she was doing. I shouldn't have hesitated. I should have killed her.

"Your mum didn't want you killing her," Katherine said, kneeling next to me and settling her hand on my shoulder. "She didn't want to activate the curse."

"It doesn't matter. I should have done it," I cried, looking down at my mother and running my shaking hand over her face. "I should have done it. She wouldn't be dead if I did."

"No, you can't break the curse, Effie, trust me. That's not a path you want to go down."

I scoffed at her words and gave one last look at my mum before she vanished. Katherine looked startled at the disappearing body but didn't say anything about it. I clenched my jaw as I rose to my feet, my hands still shaking as I curled them into fists.

"You all want me to stay as I am. You don't want me breaking my curse, but what is it you all really fear? I'm already a witch, Katerina, a powerful one that continues to grow. I've stopped using my magic to protect this baby but every time I come to expect I need to protect my baby, someone comes to hurt us and I feel defenceless. You all expect me to stand aside and let you fight my battles for me." I spun on my heel and started back towards the cottage. "I'm not doing it anymore. I am not staying as this weak defenceless girl just because you all think I can't handle the stress."

"Look," Katherine said, coming to a stop in front of me, her hands raised up in defence as she looked down at my stomach. "I know what you're going through. I was pregnant before I was turned. I know what stress can do to the body and to the baby but I believe you'll handle it. I'm just worried about what will happen if you break your curse while still pregnant."

I hadn't thought about that.

I sighed in defeat and nodded my head, accepting her hand as she offered it out to me.

"You're about to go through a tough time when you realise what's just happened, Effie. It's going to hit you and it will hit you hard, but the thing you need to remember is that your baby needs you and you need to do everything you can to help her."

I nodded as she led me to the cottage, barely aware that Damon and Caroline were waiting outside.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thehelldoievenputhere - Thank you for your comment. I really love Husky as well. They are my favourite breed of dog because they look like wolves (I also love Beagles because I have a fur-baby in the form of an energetic Beagle.) I know that some dogs can be overprotective of babies and their female owners when they sense they're pregnant and I really wanted that with Wolf and Effie.
> 
> Theyr_lying_2u - I haven't forgotten about this story. I'm still writing for it, I promise. I've just had a break from writing for a couple of weeks because work has made me really down and I wasn't even in the mood for writing and that says something!
> 
> MissInsomnia - I'm not going to ruin it for you ... You can keep guessing until all is revealed. In the show, Elena had no one to blame for Stefan leaving besides Klaus. In this story, she has Ethel to blame and because she doesn't completely understand why Stefan left, and because she's hurt that he left without a goodbye, she's just taking it all out on Ethel. She also doesn't know that Klaus is her husband. There's only a few that know that. Obviously, Klaus knows, but so does Stefan, Katherine, Elijah, Caroline, Jenna and Damon. Oh, and Charlie also knows but no one else. I also agree, I hated that Elena was stinging them both along, but it won't be that way for long.
> 
> Alex - I thank you for your kind words, I know I make mistakes in some chapters, I really do try to find them all but I am a bit shit at quickly scanning my work as I already know what it says and completely miss spelling mistakes. For that I apologise. I hope my readers will point them out, I won't be offended if you do. I'm glad you think this story is awesome and I hope you're still reading it x
> 
> SiriuslyAddictedtoReading - Hey, I totally agree with what you're saying. Klaus has his reasons for being the way he is and I truly believe he only wants all this power and to hurt people because of the pain and suffering he had to go through. It must have been hard for him knowing for over a thousand years that there was a part of him being locked away, that's got to do something to you. I also think it helps explain his behaviour a bit too.
> 
> Crazygirl101 - I'm glad you like this story. I also can't wait to see Klaus' reaction to the baby. I hope you enjoyed this chapter x


	28. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I just want to wish you all a very happy New Year. I know it's a bit late but this is the first time I've managed to post a chapter in the New Year.
> 
> I'm sorry I've been away for a while. I actually tested positive for Covid about three days before Christmas and was really ill over the holiday period. When I was given the all-clear and it was safe for me to leave the house I then had to go back to work. If anyone doesn't know, I'm a key worker as I'm an early years practitioner. If anyone shares this job role, you can imagine how hard it is and how demanding things are in this pandemic. I really feel proud to be an educator alongside all those other people working in nurseries, pre-schools, schools, and for childminders. I am also very proud of the NHS and every other key worker that's had to put themselves at risk throughout the pandemic.
> 
> With that little rant over I can telly ou all that I've only just started to feel myself and was ready to start writing again. I was hit with a really bad period of depression alongside having Covid and I've been struggling to do things I enjoy. It was literally a routine of waking up, going to work, coming home, eating and lying in bed struggling to sleep and repeating this for five days and feeling like utter shit throughout. I've actually been very happy recently and thought I'd at least try and get this chapter out.
> 
> I understand that half of you just skipped this note and went straight for the chapter, but for those of you that stuck to read about my boring life, thank you very much for being such a supportive group of amazing individuals. Sending my love to anyone who is struggling. You know where to find me if you ever need a chat.
> 
> You can find comment replies in the endnotes.

**Sorry for any mistakes. Please enjoy x**

* * *

**Home**

* * *

I was aware of Caroline coming in and out of my room leaving food every other hour. I was also aware of Jenna coming in to take back the food after I barely touched it. The two of them were doing a good job of sharing their concern for me but I was fighting my thoughts.

I wasn't even making any sense.

Tyler had been here, giving his condolences. In some way, he knew what it felt like having lost his father, _our_ father. He hadn't said anything like Caroline had. He just sat with me and convinced me to have a shower.

It was Katherine that convinced me to eat.

I hadn't even known that she'd been invited into the house until she was sitting in front of me with a bowl of soup.

"I know you don't want it, but your baby needs it."

I almost felt like I was compelled when I reached out and took the spoon from her grasp.

Twenty minutes later she handed me my phone, which had been buzzing continuously for the last six hours.

"Your husband's been calling. I think Caroline spoke to him a few hours ago," she said, brushing her hand over my face and tucking my hair behind my ears. "I'll be back later, Jenna said she'll bring you some tea to help you sleep."

I nodded without saying anything, glancing down at the phone to see over thirty missed calls and about one-hundred messages. With a sigh, I called Klaus, wondering how he even knew what had happened.

"Ethel, love, I'm sorry." I was angry at him for saying that. After all the people he has killed over the years and not once felt sympathy or guilt for what he'd done, but he could feel empathy for me once my mother was killed. He could probably care less about her and he was only feeling sorry because he thought he had to.

"Why do you care, Klaus? All the lives you've taken and you feel sorry for a vampire you've never met!"

"I understand you're angry, love, I do."

"There's a lot of things you wouldn't understand, Klaus. Do you even remember what it's like to have a mother? Or a family? Haven't you got all your siblings daggered because you're afraid they'll leave you?"

"Ethel." There was a sternness to his voice that had my body tightening in anticipation. "I understand that you're going through a stressful time and that you're trying to hurt me the same way you're hurting, but I'm trying here. I'm not giving you what you want, because I'll end up saying things I will regret and you'll never forgive me."

Why was he being reasonable?

Why did he have to be the one person that seemed to get through to me?

And he didn't even know me that well but he knew what I was trying to do. Maybe Caroline was right. Klaus knew me better than I thought. I had allowed him in, I had told him more about myself than I'd ever told anyone because deep down inside, I trusted him.

"I just … I need you," I whispered, biting my lip to stop my tears from falling.

"Do you want me to come home?"

My heart fluttered at that. Home. Did he mean that Mystical Falls was home, or I was his home?

"No, you've got your werewolves to find … oh, wait, it's the full moon tonight, did you find any wolves?"

"Ethel, sweetheart, it's been three days since your mother passed." No, it hasn't. "It has, sweetheart."

"Why don't I remember?"

"Caroline said you've been in a catatonic state for days. I wanted to come to you but she advised me not to until you were able to speak yourself."

"Oh, I'm sorry to have worried you." Cue this awkward silence where neither of us knew what we wanted to say because I had made this conversation awkward. "Did you find your wolves?"

"No, we were on our way to the mountains when I felt your pain. I wasn't focused enough to go look after. There's always next month."

That sounded strange coming from him. Hadn't he been the one that could barely wait to break his curse and didn't want to wait another month and now he acted as if he had all the time in the world, which I guess he did?

"I'm sorry I've ruined your plans again."

"I wouldn't say ruined, love. I know where the wolves are now, I could feel them. I wouldn't have gone looking for them if you didn't suggest it."

"Hmm."

"I do have a question to ask about the attack." Was that what we were referring to my mother's death as? An attack. When I didn't answer he went on. "The vampire that attacked, was she the one that caused your car accident."

"She was."

"Did you find out who she was?"

He wasn't very good at being subtle. He clearly wanted the answers and I had to wonder if he was still thinking it was his fault I was attacked in the first place.

"Her name was Ruby. My mother changed her a few years ago. Apparently, she overheard a witch making a prophecy about us, and she was trying to put an end to it by taking me out of the equation."

"Us? As in you and me?"

"Yes, Klaus, us."

"Do you know what the prophecy was about?"

Well, yes, sort of but I couldn't really tell him about the prophecy could I?

Not even if I wanted to because of the stupid witchbitch haunting me. At any mention of the baby to Klaus and something would prevent it. I just had to wonder what he'd do when he eventually found out.

"No, my mother told her it was just words and that it didn't mean anything. Ruby then staked her and I kind of burned her to the brink of death. I would have killed her but Katherine did it before I could." Yeah, didn't want to bring up the whole werewolf curse just yet either.

"Katherine as in Katerina?"

"Yep, the very same." I sighed as I stretched out on the bed and glanced at the empty bowl of soup on the bedside table. "She was the one that actually got through to me, made me eat. She's kind of become very protective. She's different from what I expected."

"I saw that when I kidnapped you."

"Would you really call it kidnapping, Klaus? I did come willingly," I muttered, not liking the sound of this kidnapping thing.

Could you imagine explaining the story of our marriage to our daughter? Your father kidnapped me, we bound ourselves together in a ceremony that was used to save your grandfather and eventually fell in love and had you. A bit of paraphrasing because no one wanted to know they were accidentally conceived.

"Because I blackmailed you."

"You only wanted me because you knew I was powerful enough to stop your plans."

"But you didn't use your magic once that night until after I killed the doppelganger."

"I knew you knew I still had my magic. I wasn't going to fall into your trap. I had to make you believe you'd won."

"I have won, though, haven't I sweetheart?"

I knew what he meant and it wasn't meant in malice. If I was to start believing Caroline, it was becoming clearer to me that perhaps Klaus really did have feelings for me and was actually starting to love me the way I was starting to love him.

"I guess we both have."

* * *

I knew I was dreaming when I woke up with Klaus' arms wrapped around me. I think the pair of us lying in the middle of the forest was also a big giveaway.

He was still sleeping as I pulled from his embrace and looked down at him. The sun was shining on his face highlighting his cheekbones and making him look angelic. It brought a smile to my face because he was anything but an angel.

I ran a finger over his cheek slowly then brought it down to brush against his lip. I jumped in surprise when his teeth caught my finger lightly and his arms wrapped around me as he rose.

"Hello, love," he mumbled against my hair, brushing some of the curls behind my ears. It made my heart grow all fuzzy when he held me to him. How could he do that when only two days ago I was screaming abuse at him and trying to make him retaliate? Was this what love truly meant? He hadn't snapped because he didn't want to hurt me, and that was saying a lot coming from Klaus.

"I wasn't expecting you to wake," I muttered, resting my head against his chest as he held me tightly. I had never been held like this before by him and it was comforting. It felt like home and I never wanted to leave.

"We are dreaming, aren't we, love?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I replied, pulling back to look at him. I couldn't remember why I had wanted to meet with him in our dreams. There was something I wanted to say to him away from prying ears, but being here with him now just made me forget.

"I've never been pulled into a dream like this," he admitted and I thought it was sweet. He was impressed by my skill as a witch but wouldn't express it outright.

"I've never tried it before, but I've read that it's easier with those that you have a mind-link with and I don't think I have a strong link to anyone but you," I told him, lifting my hands and running them over his face.

How could I have denied my feelings for him all this time, when Caroline was right. I was in love with him.

"How is it possible that you've grown more beautiful in the last thirteen weeks?"

How had it already been thirteen weeks since I last saw him?

That meant I was thirteen weeks pregnant.

Oh, of course. I remember now. I had dream-walked so I tell him about the baby.

"Klaus, I—"

"I've lost track of the wolves but Stefan had an idea about getting a witch to find me one." He looked positively happy at the thought of going to a witch to find his werewolves. "I was thinking about asking you to do it, but I want to prove that I can do this your way."

"My way?"

"Yes, love, I'm going to ask their permission before I change them."

"What happens if they disagree with you?" I was genuinely curious to know what he'd do if he was refused.

"See that's my plan, sweetheart. They'll refuse but when they're going through the painful transformation I'll be watching over them in no pain. Why would they want to go through the pain every month when they could just never transform again?"

"I suppose you do have a point." I wonder if I'd even have to feel the pain of a transformation. Yes, I'd felt Klaus' pain and it felt like my own but would I ever get to experience the same? Would I want to? Would he try to convince me to become a hybrid or would he understand that I wouldn't want to lose my magic?

"I'm going to ask my witch to investigate why the wolves didn't transform." Klaus startled me out of my thoughts with his words and my mind went straight to Elena. I should probably tell him about her because I had a feeling it was down to her being alive that the hybrids hadn't worked. But did I just hand her over and betray everyone just for Klaus? We may have been married and bound together and we may be having a child together but family was important. And, he never asked me if she was alive so I wasn't technically lying.

"I have given you my theories on that," I said, rising from his embrace and walking a little into the forest. It was beautiful here and I longed to be in this forest in real life, with Klaus.

"And I have taken your theories into account, sweetheart, I just want a second opinion and perhaps a third." He rose and walked over to me, his arms wrapping around me and settling on my hips.

I wonder if he rested them on my stomach, he'd be to feel our daughter growing. I wasn't that far along, but I was beginning to show a little. I could definitely feel her growing.

"Klaus, I really need to tell you something." I spun around in his arms and looked up into his blue eyes. They were so hypnotizing I almost forgot to speak. "I'm p—"

I gasped awake as a splitting pain tore through my head and I screamed as I pressed in on the side of my head to prevent any more pain. Two pairs of cool hands were trying to ease my pain but neither vampire knew what to do.

Katherine, to Caroline's surprise, climbed into my bed and pulled me into her arms, rocking me in her arms like a baby as she muttered random things to me.

"Witchbitch," I whispered, sharing a look with Caroline as the pain started to recede.

"I'll call Charlie," she said, pulling out her phone before giving me and Katherine one last glance before leaving the room.

"There's a witch attacking you?" Was that concern I heard in Katherine's voice?

"Someone from The Other Side." I pushed out of her arms and accepted the glass of water she handed me. After a few sips, I cradled the glass in my hands and bit my lip lightly.

"Why is she attacking you?"

"She only does it when I try to tell Klaus about the baby." Seeing the look on Katherine's face, I explained where I was. "I was with him, in his dream. I went to tell him about the baby but woke because of the pain before I could."

"So someone doesn't want Klaus to know about his daughter?" There was a concerned and curious look in her eyes and I had to wonder what he was thinking about. "Could there be someone alive, a witch perhaps, that's reaching out to our witchbitch? Is there someone that gains anything from hurting Klaus by keeping him from knowing about his child?"

"I'm not sure, but that vampire, Ruby, mentioned something about a prophecy involving the both of us and a child. What if others have heard it and are trying to prevent it from coming true? Everyone's bound to know Klaus is a hybrid now, he didn't really keep that information secret, did he? He slaughtered a whole pack of werewolves a month after his ritual."

"Klaus was never one to keep it on the down-low. Has he mentioned a witch at all?"

"He did say that Stefan mentioned that it might be a good idea to go looking for a witch to help them find out where the werewolves are and he said something about finding out why his hybrids didn't work." I bit my lip again as I pondered whether Katherine could be right about this. Could a coven or even a single witch be communing with the dead and trying to get at Klaus?

"Do you know where he is?"

"Umm, no, but I can easily find out." I stared at her carefully as she got up off the bed and tilted my head to the side. "Why? What are you planning?"

"You can investigate on this end and I'll do some investigating on his end."

"Are you planning on stalking my husband, Katie?"

"Please, you don't have a need to be jealous, Klaus is not my type." She didn't seem to be bothered by the new nickname I gave her, I guess in a way, she'd been called worse.

"I guess this could work." I rose from the bed and carefully reached out for the necklace around her neck. My fingers brushed the cool metal and I closed my eyes as I muttered a spell under my breath. "Klaus won't be able to detect you near him, but I can't say the same for Stefan or anyone else with them. Be careful and keep me updated."

"You have no need to worry about me, Little Witch." She gave me a soft smile before her eyes dropped to my stomach. "You have your fourteen-week appointment next week. It's important you go. Keep me updated with her and yourself."

"I will." Katherine gave me one last smile before speeding out of the room.

I rubbed my hands together as I stared at the empty doorway before making my way out into the hallway.

Jeremy's door was open and he was chilling on his bed, his sketchbook on his lap as he flipped through some recent drawings. I leaned on the doorway and looked into his room when an idea hit me.

"Hey, Jer," I called, smiling when his eyes locked on mine. "Are you against moving rooms?"

He pushed himself up so he was leaning on his elbows and tilted his head slightly. It was only then that I realized Wolf was lying next to him and pulling the same expression.

"Why?"

"I was thinking about moving you downstairs into the guest room. You can have your own bathroom, no need to share it with Caroline or Jenna. I think I might change this room into a nursery. If you don't mind moving that is."

"Yeah, that sounds cool. As long as I don't have to lift any heavy stuff."

I rolled my eyes at his teasing tone before turning down the corridor and preparing to tell Caroline and Jenna that I had an idea for the nursery. Caroline had wanted to start in the nursery a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to hold off until I made it out of the first trimester. I knew deep down that nothing was going to happen, but this was a miracle baby so anything could happen.

Hopefully, it would be a big enough distraction and keep us busy while Charlie figured out the witch problem.

* * *

**Thank you for reading xx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Crazygirl101 - I'm glad that you loved the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too.
> 
> *Theyr_lying_2u - I hope you were excited about the notification for this chapter. I am really wanting Klaus to find out about the baby too. It just seems that our mysterious witch doesn't want Klaus to find out. I also enjoy that Klaus tried to rein himself in when he's talking to Ethel 'you see that in this chapter when she's trying to get a rise out of him'. He really does care about her and he doesn't want to hurt her by saying something he'll regret. And I am waiting for the day that he verbally admits his love to her because he's yet to say it to her.
> 
> *TheBetterLookingOne - I love the way you started your comment on the last chapter. I personally don't agree that Ethel is a Mary Sue. I also agree with you when people get upset because they are powerful, beautiful female characters. I also cannot wait for Klaus to return. At the end of this chapter, it'll be about another month before he returns in the timeline for the prank night. I also have plans for this scene - would you believe that my ideas for the prank night scene were actually what got me writing this fanfiction? I have thought about dealing with Mikael and I think I've finally found out how I can go about it without Damon betraying her. Umm, Ethel's due in February and the timeline I'm going by (and the one on Vampire Diaries Wiki, which I'm basing the timeline off) says that the other Originals are woken up on 21st October (Elijah is the 20th). I've not yet decided what to do with Finn, but I'm open to ideas. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> *Alex - Oh, that sucks when that happens. I hope you got this notification this time around? I really do appreciate when people point out any mistakes as long as it's done in a kind way. Klaus will return physically in the next couple of chapters. I also didn't notice any mistakes in your comment. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> *Itwasmeleo - Thank you for your comment, I'm glad you thought the chapter was amazing.
> 
> *Gaelle0b - I'm so happy that you enjoy this fanfiction. I also cannot wait for Klaus' reaction because we all know he'll try to blame her for cheating even though he knows it's not true. Please enjoy this chapter.


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